Neon Genesis: Demon 2
by Slayer6
Summary: AUCrossover Part of my NG:Goddess Universe, now with a touch of Constantine. Taking place years after the movie or book as the case may be, Constantine and Angela search for the Demon who killed their son.
1. Prologue

I don't own the characters, the movies, books, or shows they came from. They all belong to people who probably make a lot of money off of them.

Neon Genesis Demon 2

Prologue

Los Angeles, California

2021

The boy thrashed about as the young man in the black trench coat entered the room. The boy had been tied to the bed by his parents, worried that he might hurt himself, or even them. Even now, the child seemed dangerous. The man in the trench coat glanced at the boy briefly as he stood beside the bed. He then pulled out a simple wooden cross and a bible and began to read.

"_In nominee Ptris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti extinguatur in te ominis virtus diaboli per…_"

The man jumped back as the child thrashed violently, struggling to reach out for him. The man held the cross before him and continued.

"_Impositionem manum nostrarum et per invoctionem gloriosae et sanctae dei genetricis viginis Mariae….._"

The cross ignited in flames. The man in the trench coat stared at the burning cross, then casually tossed it out the nearby window.

"Ok." He muttered, "So you want to play rough……." He reached into another pocket and removed a very ornate golden cross. This he placed in direct contact with the child's forehead.

Smoke rose as the gold came into contact with skin. The child howled as the cross burned him.

"……never want to go the easy way." The man in the trench coat muttered, "Always the hard way. Dad never…." He was cut off by the sound of breaking ropes and a hand clamping itself around his throat. The man stared down at the child, struggling to break the strangle hold on his neck, but the child held on with inhuman strength.

"_Know this Exorcist!_" the child hissed in a demonic tongue, "_You are but the first! Mammon WILL rise again!_"

The man in the trench coat stared at the child curiously, not fully understanding what the child said. He looked into the child's glowing red eyes.

Something looked back.

The room was soon filled with the man's screams, followed by a crash as he jumped out the window.

Across the continent, a husband and wife both sat up in terror.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Three days later.

The Coroner opened the door and pulled out the drawer with the shrouded body on it. He then glanced up at the couple.

"I must warn you," he said, "It won't be pretty."

The man glanced at his wife. She turned her gaze from the sheet to the Coroner and nodded. The Coroner reached up and pulled the sheet back, revealing the body's face.

The wife quickly buried her face in her husband's shoulder. The husband's only reaction was to inhale sharply.

In life, the body before him had been his son, his only child. Considering the forces that wished him dead, to have a wife, let alone a child had been very dangerous.

But then again he liked to think it pissed fate off when he did the unexpected.

The Coroner looked at the husband curiously as he looked closer at his son. His son's eyes were closed, but he could still see the faint traces of blood that had leaked from them. There was also the faint scent of sulfur. The husband finally looked back at the Coroner.

"It is him." The husband finally said.

The Coroner nodded and gently put the shroud back into place. He then pushed the drawer closed and shut the door.

"I am sorry for your loss Mrs. Constantine, Mr. Constantine." The Coroner stated, "It is never easy to lose one's child, especially this way."

John Constantine only nodded as he gently led his wife, Angela out of the morgue.

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"He wouldn't have killed himself." Angela muttered as she drove them back to the hotel. "He wouldn't."

"I know." Constantine replied. He was busy looking through the coroner's report as well as the police report. Having a wife who was ex-LAPD was a great help in getting the files. "I think he had help."

Angela glanced at her husband before turning her eyes back to the road.

"Someone wanting to get back at him?" she asked.

"Possibly," Constantine replied, "Or they wanted to send me a message." He glanced over at her. "I smelled sulfur."

Angela frowned.

"But it's been years since we've had any problems from Demons." She said.

"I know." Constantine said, still reading the file. "Not since we moved and Mark took over." He paused for a moment, thinking about his son. "Forget the Hotel." He finally said. "We need to see Midnite."

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Constantine and Angela paused only briefly before the bouncer, naming the tarot card the bouncer held before he had even drawn it. The bar hadn't changed much. Minor Angels and Demons in human form still drank and partied the night away. All who glanced at him did so with glowing red or white eyes. He could feel their hostility towards him, and in a few cases, fear. Only one actually approached him.

"John! Long time no see!" the young woman said, "You up for partying?"

"Hi Ellie." Constantine replied. Angela glanced at him curiously. Constantine spotted this from the corner of his eye. He quickly raised his hand, showing off the ring. "Sorry, I'm married now. Can't party like before."

Ellie eyed the ring casually.

"Not like that matters much." She pointed out.

"It does to me Ellie."

"You were a lot more fun when you were damned to Hell." She muttered.

Constantine smirked.

"Speaking of Hell," he began, "didn't I send you back there."

Ellie's eyes narrowed.

"Thank you for bringing up a very traumatic experience." She growled, "And I thought we were friends." She turned and left in a huff, her tail swinging behind her.

Constantine smirked and turned to find his way blocked by Angela.

"And who was that?" she asked.

"Old girlfriend." He replied, "Sent her to Hell right before Mammon tried to break free."

"Oh." She said, "Any other Demons in your closet?"

"Besides the usual ones, no." Constantine replied as he moved past Angela and down a back hall.

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Constantine and Angela had barely arrived at the doors to Midnite's office when they opened. They entered, the doors closing behind them.

"Hello John." The Haitian Witch Doctor called out from behind his desk, "What brings you and the Mrs. to my establishment this evening?"

Constantine paused and glanced at the brass orrey of the forces of the universe, then looked back at Midnite.

"My son is dead."

Midnite's eyes widened.

"I hadn't heard that." He said, looking at the orrey. "He was a good man. Respected by both sides."

"He was murdered." Constantine interrupted, "Killed by a Demon."

Midnite leaned over his desk.

"That's not possible. They don't work that way."

"Don't they?" Constantine snorted, "I seem to remember being attacked multiple times when Mammon was trying to get out."

"Those were Mammon's followers." Midnite pointed out, "His Dad wasn't even aware of what was going on."

"The fact remains that my son is now laying in a morgue, and a Demon put him there." Constantine tossed the files on his son from the morgue onto Midnite's desk. "Take a look at those! It was a botched possession and even you would have to admit it!"

Midnite glanced through the files. When he was finished, he looked back up.

"Suppose your right," he said, "What do you want me to do?"

"Keep an ear out for anyone bragging about this. Somehow I don't expect them to keep quiet."

"Demons do like to mouth off." Midnite noted, "Anything else?"

"Mark was working with someone." Angela said, "Who was it?"

"A ex-Priest." Midnite replied, "Goes by the name McLintok."

"Ex-Priest?" Angela asked curiously.

"He dabbled a bit in the black arts." Midnite explained, "He was trying to understand them in order to fight them. He was found out and cast out of the Priesthood."

"Where do we find this McLintok?" Constantine asked.

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Constantine and Angela stepped out of the car at the place Midnite had said McLintok could be found.

An old cemetery.

"You always said when we got married, you'd take me places." Angela said, looking at the gravestones.

"Cute." Constantine mumbled, "Real cute."

The two walked into the cemetery and headed towards the caretaker's home. Reaching the door, Constantine knocked. After a few moments, footsteps could be heard. The door opened, revealing a small bald man in rumpled clothes.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Hello." Constantine said, "My name is John. This is Angela."

"So?"

"We were told you worked with our son." Angela said, "Mark."

"Ah, that explains it."

"Explains what?" Constantine asked.

"What you're doing in a graveyard in the middle of the night." The man replied, "Come in." He turned and vanished into the house.

Constantine raised an eyebrow at Angela, then both followed the man in.

"Name's McLintok." The man said, as he moved deeper into the house. "But I guess you already knew that."

Constantine looked around as they walked through the house. Something was bothering him. Everything looked like a normal house, nothing out of the ordinary that he could see.

McLintok led them into the kitchen, then down the basement stairs. There they found the walls covered in religious icons and artifacts. Several bookshelves contained hundreds of books, files, as well as more artifacts. Artifacts even covered a table set up in the middle of the room. McLintok swept them off to the floor with his arm, clearing out a spot. He then pulled out a file.

"Mark was working on a case at the local college." McLintok explained, "For the past ten, twenty years or so, students have turned up dead. Oh there are the usual things, alcohol poisoning, hazing gone wrong, traffic accidents, even the one student who was so depressed over her grades she jumped off a building. These deaths were different."

"How so?" Constantine asked. Angela was listening, but had been walking along the wall, trying to identify the multitude of religious icons.

"These students were found with their hearts removed." McLintok explained, opening the file. He handed Constantine pictures. The pictures contained crime scene photos of numerous students with giant gaping holes in their chests. Constantine flipped through the photos, then tossed them on the table.

"This means nothing." He said, "There could be any number of reasons their hearts were removed. They could have been the victims of someone who'd seen the 'Temple of Doom' to many times."

"Yes well," McLintok replied, "All the victims were from the college………"

"Many of whom are unattached and are away from home for the first time." Constantine pointed out.

"…….besides the removal of the heart," McLintok continued, "nothing else was found by the police, until a year ago." He pulled an object from the file and set it on the table. It was a necklace. At the end of the chain was a stone with a rune carved into it. Constantine picked it up and looked at the stone, as did Angela over his shoulder.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's the necklace of a high priest." Constantine said, "Used to identify themselves to the God or Demon that they worship."

"A rare find indeed." McLintok replied, "Can you identify the Rune Constantine?"

Constantine looked at the rune, his mind running through years and years of countless years of knowledge of the arcane and ancient arts. The rune however defied him and remained silent.

"I don't know." He finally said reluctantly.

"That's good." McLintok replied, "I didn't either." He turned and walked up to the bookshelves. "Mark and I spent many a night going through books, trying to identify this rune." He began to run his hands along the volumes of books, apparently trying to identify one specific book. "None of the usual texts had anything close." He paused and glanced back at Constantine. "We even tried the Bible of Hell. No luck." McLintok went back to the books and soon let out an 'Ahh' as he found what he was looking for. He set the book on the table and brought out a magnifying glass. "Took us a year to find out we were looking too far back."

Constantine looked down at the book. It was of old Norse legends and history. The page McLintok had opened it to contained a picture of a large carving, apparently done on a wall. The caption under the picture stated that the carving had been done in the 10th century. Yet had been destroyed during World War 2. Grabbing the magnifying glass, Constantine could make out several figures and runes. Most of the runes didn't look anywhere close to the one on the stone, though all looked similar in design. Three of the runes seemed to stand out from the others.

"What are these three runes?" Constantine asked.

"Sharp eye. Mark looked at those as well." McLintok said, "Those three runes signify the Past, the Present, and the Future."

That triggered an old memory in Constantine's head.

"The Norns?" he asked, "The Fates?"

"Exactly." McLintok said.

"The what?" Angela asked, confused.

"The Fates were three women in charge of a person's destiny according to the Norse." Constantine explained, "One for each period of time, past, present, and future." He turned back to the rune. "But that doesn't help identify this."

"It does though." McLintok replied, "The carving on that stone is similar to those in that picture. So we concentrated all our efforts around that time period, and in the Norse inhabited areas." McLintok went back to the file and pulled out a paper. "This is where we encountered something strange."

"What?" Constantine asked.

"I had to call an old friend in Norway." McLintok said, "He's the foremost authority on the Old Norse Gods." McLintok stated, "The rune is Norse in style, but not in that language. It's in Demonic." He set the paper down. On it were many different types of runes, including the mystery one. He pointed at the Rune. "What we have here is the Demonic rune for 'Fate'."

"A Demonic Fate?" Constantine asked with a frown.

McLintok nodded. "That's what we thought, and it does make sense. There must be balance in the world. So, it the Norse Gods had three people in charge of time……"

"So did the Demons." Constantine grumbled, "So we have a person running around a campus ripping out hearts in then name of a Demon?"

"We thought that initially." McLintok said, "But then Mark went to one of the more recent killings. He came back saying he could smell a slight hint of sulfur, and sensed a bit of darkness."

"Demons." Constantine muttered.

"Yes." McLintok pulled out a photo and set it on the table. "I give you your Demon."

Constantine and Angela leaned over and stared at the photo. It was of a twenty something college girl with auburn hair and green eyes. She seemed to be having a conversation with a shorter girl with red hair. Both appeared to be of Japanese descent.

"Mark identified her." McLintok said, "He followed her all over campus, trying to determine her routine." He sighed. "He was going to 'deport' her after that exorcism. But he didn't make it." He looked down at the photo. "And I think she was involved."

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"We know nothing about her!" Angela shouted as they drove back to the hotel. "You only have that man's word!"

Constantine kept his concentration on the road.

"We both know what Demons are capable of." He said, "Between the two of us, we can even identify them psychically. So could Mark. But it works both ways. If he pegged her as a Demon……."

"Then she marked him as a threat." Angela finished, "What is our plan?"

Constantine glanced at his wife before looking back at the road.

"We go to the college and mingle, see if we can't find that girl."

"And if we do?"

"Well obviously we check to see if she is either possessed, which is possible, or that she's a Demon like Balthazar." He explained "If she's possessed, we do an exorcism."

"And if she isn't?"

A grim look appeared on Constantine's face.

"We deport her."

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Angela looked around at the students walking past her. They looked so young! These were college students?

She and Constantine had waited until the following afternoon to go to the college. Since his face was well known to many in Hell, Constantine had taken up a spot on the tallest building on campus, the Science tower. Angela herself would do the initial approach, to see if the girl was a demon.

"Have I ever mentioned how beautiful you look?" came a voice in the small earpiece she wore.

Angela smiled and looked towards the Science tower.

"You're just trying to distract me." She said into the hidden microphone. "You're really looking at all these young college girls."

"Why would I go after a girl when I have you?" came Constantine's reply.

Angela just smiled. Her smile faded slightly as she looked at a building whose classes were just letting out.

"Hold on John." She said, "I think I see her."

In the approaching crowd, she caught a few glimpses of auburn hair. As the students began to spread out and disperse, the girl came into view.

"I see her." came Constantine's voice, "It's her."

"Right." Angela took a deep breath and stood up. She started in the general direction of the girl. She was quite nervous the closer she got to the girl. It had been a long time since she'd faced a demon, the last of course being Mammon when he had possessed her.

The girl in question seemed to be scowling at a paper in her hands. As she got closer, Angela discovered it was a math test.

"Stupid Calc." She heard the girl mutter.

Angela put on her best smile.

"Excuse me?" she called out.

The girl paused and turned her green eyes quizzically towards Angela. She was quite beautiful, Angela admitted, and there was no sign on her face of being possessed.

"Yes?" the girl said.

"I'm slightly lost." Angela replied, moving closer. As she did, the faint smell of sulfur reached her nose. There was something odd with the girl. Normally, Angela was able you use her psychic feelers to identify various feelings and get a general sense about someone. Constantine had taught her well in this.

This girl was virtually undetectable. It was like she wasn't there.

"I'm looking for the administrative building." Angela said.

The girl turned and pointed.

"Take this sidewalk, then go right." The girl said, "You can't miss it."

"Thank you Miss……?"

"Kirishima." The girl replied before she turned and headed off.

Angela started off in the direction the girl had indicated.

"Well?" she asked.

"Didn't look possessed." Constantine replied.

"There was a hint of sulfur." Angela said.

"Don't suppose she has a science class?"

"She was coming from Calculus."

"Sense anything?"

"Nothing. It's like she wasn't even there."

Constantine frowned from his perch on the roof as he followed the girl through his binoculars. He'd been able to feel something from Balthazar, and Angela was more powerful psychically then he was. For her to be unable to sense the girl………

"Ok." He said, "See if you can't figure out where Miss Kirishima lives, what her last class is and when."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm heading back to the car." He replied, "I need to get ready to 'deport' her."

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Night had fallen over the campus.

Constantine was standing quietly beside a building, slightly hidden by bushes from the sidewalk. He was chewing gum, which had replaced his smoking habit years ago. A small pile of gum wrappers beside him spoke of how long he'd been waiting there. Some distance away, Angela was waiting in the car.

After all, one doesn't fire a weapon on a college campus unnoticed.

Many students had walked past him on their way to the dorms. None had seen him. Constantine checked his watch again. The class should have let out almost forty minutes ago. Where the hell was this girl?

Movement on the sidewalk caught his eye. Auburn hair caught light from a nearby street lamp. Constantine watched as the girl moved past his position, grumbling to herself about someone named Chiyo. Like Angela that afternoon, he smelt the traces of sulfur. He also tried to reach out with his psychic feelers, and found nothing.

He stepped out onto the sidewalk and pulled out a small spherical object.

"Demon!" he shouted out as he tossed the sphere.

The girl stopped in her tracks and turned at the sound of his voice. Her eyes caught sight of the object hurtling towards her. She was barely able to throw up her arms and let out a shriek before the sphere hit her and exploded, covering her in holy water. The water was still cascading over the girl as Constantine reached into his jacket and pulled out a golden cross-shaped gun. He loaded one of the large shells, made from melted down holy relics, into the chamber and took aim.

The gun roared as he pulled the trigger. The massive shell slammed into the girl's left shoulder, spinning her around as she screamed. A second shot roared from the gun, but the girl was already falling. That shell ripped through her bag. The girl landed on the ground in a heap, her bag landed nearby.

Constantine loaded another shell and walked up to the girl. The holy water would cause the skin of their mortal 'shell' to peel back, revealing the demon hidden within. Thus weakened, most demons only took one or two shots before their earthy bodies collapsed into dust, returning their 'soul' back into Hell.

Ellie had been one such Demon he had 'deported' this way.

Constantine leveled the gun at the girl. She was sobbing in pain, facing the ground. He reached out with his foot and kicked her, forcing her face up. Tears were streaking down the girl's face as she clutched her bloody shoulder.

Bloody…….

Constantine's eyes went wide. The holy water hadn't done anything to the girl. No skin had peeled back revealing demonic flesh. The holy shell hadn't burned demon flesh. It had only created a massive bloody hole.

"Oh no…..Oh no…." Constantine rambled, "Fuck no….."

He grabbed at his head, staring down as the girl's blood flowed out onto the sidewalk. He could hear the shouts of other people beginning to approach.

"Fuck!" he stared at the girl one last time before running towards the parking lot.

Had he turned back one more time, he would have seen the girl rise up slightly and grab her bag.

Right before she vanished.

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Constantine flung the gun into the back seat as he climbed into the car.

"Drive!" he said.

Angela wasted no time in getting the car out of the parking lot.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Constantine swore.

"What is it?" Angela asked, "Did you get her?"

"Yeah," Constantine said, "I got her. Only I don't think she was a demon."

Angela turned her head over and stared at her husband.

"What!" she asked.

"I think I shot a human."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"YOU SHOT A HUMAN!" Angela almost lost control of the car. Constantine had to reach over and straighten the wheel.

"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU SHOOT A HUMAN!"

"Angela would you mind driving the damn car before be both end up on the other side. I really don't want to get there at this exact moment."

Angela grabbed the steering wheel and resumed driving, but her eyes kept darting at Constantine.

"You shot a human? A mortal? Not a Demon?"

"I've 'deported' lots of Demons." Constantine replied, "None have ever bled red blood."

"Oh my god……."

"Actually, I don't think he'd be that happy with me right now."

"Oh my god……"

"We've covered him already. Now get us back to Midnite's"

"Oh my god….."

"No Midnite." Constantine sighed and looked out the window, "There is something not right about this."

"Not right? John, you shot a mortal! A human girl!"

"Then why the sulfur smell?" he asked, "You said yourself she has no science classes. And why couldn't we detect her psychically. We need to talk to Midnite."

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The drive back to Midnite's went smoothly, which caused them (mostly Angela) to worry. Constantine had just fired a weapon on a college campus, and shot, what they believed to be, a human.

Where were the police?

The stopped outside the club and quickly entered.

They approached the bouncer quickly. He gave them a glance and simply moved the rope. Constantine paused only briefly to stare at the bouncer. He hadn't even shown them a tarot card.

Entering the bar itself, Constantine knew he was in trouble. Hell, even Angela could tell. Every single eye in the place, glowing red, white, or mortal, was looking straight at him and Angela.

Somehow, what he had done had flashed throughout this hidden world like a brushfire.

He and Angela walked silently through the crowd towards Midnite's office. The eyes continued to follow him, right up until they vanished down the back hall.

"John…." Angela said softly.

"Yeah," he replied, "I know."

They approached the office door. It opened before they could even knock.

"Get in here!" came Midnite's voice.

Constantine and Angela entered. Midnite was standing behind his desk, practically glaring at him. But he wasn't alone. Ellie stood in the room, her eyes locked on him, tail laying still. The second figure was a little more surprising.

"Gabriel." Constantine said, staring at the former Angel, "How's mortal life treating you?"

"You really have no idea what you've done have you?" Gabriel, said, refusing to respond to Constantine's verbal barb.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Constantine replied, his face darkening.

"I don't think you really do John." Ellie spoke up, "The Queen wants your hide."

Constantine and Angela both turned and stared at Ellie.

"Queen?" Angela repeated.

"I'd have thought Lucifer would want me." Constantine grumbled, "He came for me before."

"The Queen holds dominion over Hell for Lucifer." Ellie replied. She then smirked, "You really know who to piss off don't you?"

"How did I piss off a Queen? And since when does that sadistic basterd not run his own Domain?" Constantine asked, "I thought……"

"He does what he wishes." Ellie replied, "As to how you pissed the Queen off, I thought that'd be obvious."

"It wasn't John's fault!" Angela shouted, "We both thought she was a Demon! We didn't know she was human until John shot her!"

The entire room went quiet.

"You didn't know?" Midnite asked.

"No." Constantine replied, "She had that wonderful sulfur smell all Demons have, and I couldn't read her."

"You thought she was mortal?" Gabriel asked.

"She bled red blood." He sat down heavily in a chair, "That kind of wound…….she isn't going to make it. So I'm condemned back into Hell." He looked up at Gabriel. "You were right. It was my choice, and I screwed up."

"John," Gabriel said softly, "You didn't shoot a mortal."

"Yes I did." Constantine said, "McLintok said he and Mark had her pegged as a demon. Angela and I had her pegged as a demon. But she was human."

"No," Ellie said, "She isn't. Technically."

Constantine and Angela looked at Ellie curiously. Even Midnite looked at the demon curiously.

"What do you mean?" Angela asked.

"Mana Kirishima IS a demon." Ellie said, "But only half. The rest of her is mortal."

Constantine and Midnite stared at Ellie. Angela shook her head.

"You mean she's like you." She said, "A demon under human skin?"

"No." Ellie replied, shaking her head. "Me, and others like my kind are low level demons, above soldier demons, but still low. Kirishima is high level demon, a Class 2 as a matter of fact. The high level demons have power we low level ones don't."

"They balance out all the gods in Heaven." Gabriel added, "With the same powers as Heaven, though directed towards mankind's misery."

"But you said Kirishima is only half demon." Constantine said, "And she isn't like you."

Ellie nodded. "The high level demons like Kirishima look, act, feel, and bleed like normal humans. But they are immortal, and have powers beyond your belief." Ellie glanced around at all present. "Kirishima is technically the daughter of a former General in the army of Hell. He in turn was the son of the Queen's sister."

"What do you mean 'technically'?" Midnite asked.

Ellie narrowed her eyes. "The General liked to have 'fun' on the mortal world, like other demons. You ever heard stories of women vanishing, turning up dead, or worse." Seeing Constantine and Midnite nod, she continued. "Kirishima's mother was one of those woman, only she survived to give birth to Kirishima, making Mana a very rare Demon."

"Oh my god….." Angela murmured.

"He doesn't have anything to do in this." Ellie said, "The Queen is quite fond of Kirishima. She is very……"

The sounds of a disturbance outside in the hall reached their ears. Midnite glared at the door as they flew open. The bouncer stood there a dazed look on his face.

"Who dares….?" Midnite began.

The bouncer fell to the floor, apparently unconscious. Behind him was a hooded figure. Constantine could feel the darkness oozing from the figure. A quick glance showed that Angela and Midnite could feel it as well. Gabriel moved as far from the figure as he could.

The figure entered the office, the doors closing behind it. Ellie walked forward and fell to one knee before the figure.

"Milady." She said in greeting.

The figure pulled back the hood, revealing a blond haired woman with red eyes. Markings adorned her face, two slash marks on her forehead, and triangles under her eyes. She glared at Ellie.

"Where is the son of a bitch?" the woman asked.

Ellie simply pointed at Constantine. The woman started towards him. She stopped as Midnite moved in front of her.

"This is a neutral place!" he said, "There will be no fighting here!"

The woman glared at Midnite, her eyes actually began to glow a bright red.

"Lady Mara." Ellie whispered softly.

Mara turned and glared at Ellie a moment. When her gaze came back to Midnite, the glow was gone from her eyes. She nodded at Midnite. He moved out of the way, and Mara resumed her walk towards Constantine. He rose to his feet as she stopped in front of him. The two stared at each other for several long moments.

"Why?" Mara asked.

"She had my Son killed." Constantine replied.

Mara blinked.

"What!"

"She had my son killed." He repeated, "To prevent him from deporting her back to Hell. He found out she was killing college students and taking their hearts."

Mara stared at Constantine wide eyes. Then she began to chuckle. That chuckle became all out laughter. The other's looked at each other confused.

"Do you find the killing of mortals to be funny?" Gabriel asked.

"No." Mara said as she wiped tears from her eyes, "I find the idea of you thinking Mana could kill someone, especially a mortal, funny."

"What?"

"Mana hates being a demon." Mara explained, "She does it, but she's been doing it rather badly. She's only been going after hardcore criminals and such." Mara paused for a moment. "Although, she did kill off those Cultists that were ripping out mortal hearts."

"What about my son?" Constantine asked, "He knew she was a Demon and she killed him because of it!"

"There are around fifteen or so people on this planet right now that know Mana is a Demon." Mara stated, "Now there are five more. She hasn't killed any of them, though there is one that would like to beat the snot out of her for trying to steal her boyfriend."

"She didn't have our son killed?" Angela asked.

Mara nodded. "She doesn't talk to other Demons. Never has. Other Demons see her as inferior. Only the Queen, myself, and her teacher see her as otherwise."

"So who killed my son?" Constantine asked, "Demons were involved!"

"Lucifer and Mammon aren't exactly fans of yours. Then again, who is?" Mara stated, "The Boss is also a bit annoyed that the Queen has reigned everyone in a bit." Mara sighed. "We can guess all we want, but if we really must know, we'll just have to ask your son."

Everyone in the room blinked.

"You're not serious." Ellie said, "That's totally against the rules!"

"They would never let this happen." Gabriel added.

"What does she mean?" Angela asked.

Mara ignored the comments and looked at Midnite.

"May I use your phone?"

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Constantine watched as the powerful demoness paced the room. She finished her phone call minutes before. Ellie was looking highly nervous, even Gabriel had a bit of fear on his face.

"Any idea what we're waiting for?" Angela asked from behind him.

"Not sure." Constantine replied.

"She was speaking in Japanese." Midnite said from where he sat.

Constantine turned and stared at the witch doctor.

"So besides flooding us with cheap TVs and cars," he began, "They're taking over heaven?"

Before Midnite could reply, a rattle filled the room. Everyone glanced over at a table against the wall where a water decanter sat on a tray with glasses. The decanter rattled on the tray while the water inside bubbled violently. There was a blast of light and a woman with long black hair was floating above them. Like Gabriel when Mara entered, Ellie immediately moved as far from the woman as she could.

Like Mara, the new woman's face had facial markings. Unlike Mara's, this woman's markings were blue, and consisted of open blue triangles under her eyes and an open oblong circle on her forehead. She landed on the floor and glared at Mara.

"Why the hell am I getting phone calls from Heaven to meet you!" she asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in Alaska?"

"I was reassigned." Mara replied, "And this is important."

"Important!" the woman shouted, "The only things you've ever done that were important was being a pain in our ass!"

Mara kept her voice even and level.

"It's Mana important."

The new woman's whole attitude changed. The anger was gone, now replaced by concern.

"What's the matter? Is she alright?"

Mara pointed at Constantine.

"He shot her." she stated.

The woman whirled about and angrily stared at Constantine.

"Why the Hell would you shoot her!" she shouted.

"Why do you care?" Constantine replied.

"What!" The woman turned back to Mara. "Just who the Hell is this creep!"

"Skuld, Goddess of the Future," Mara said, "Meet John Constantine, thorn in everyone's ass."

Skuld turned back and stared at Constantine a moment. She then turned back to Mara.

"This is Constantine?"

"Yep."

"The guy that flipped off Lucifer?"

"Yep."

"The one person Lucifer wanted to get his hands on, even if Gendo Ikari was still alive?"

"Yep."

Skuld turned and looked back at Constantine.

"Impressed?" he asked.

"No." she replied, "I thought you'd be taller. So why'd you shoot Mana?"

"She killed our son." Angela said.

Skuld glanced at Angela.

"You honestly think Mana would kill someone?" the Goddess asked, "Boy you people don't know her very well."

"I was thinking they could talk to their son." Mara said, "And he could tell us who killed him."

Skuld's eyes widened.

"But that's not allowed! It's forbidden to……" her voice trailed off and she stared at the Demoness with a sudden look of understanding. "You got Urd to ask Father didn't you?"

Mara shrugged.

"Dammit Mara!" Skuld grumbled, "That's why Urd said I wasn't going to like what I was about to do."

"Question." Constantine raised his hand. "Just what are you about to do?"

Skuld just turned and began muttering unintelligibly. Mara gave a small smile.

"She is going to take us to Heaven to talk to your son." The demoness said.

"Us?" Skuld said, "What's this 'us' stuff?"

"I'm coming." Mara growled, "When I go back to the Queen I want to have answers."

"Yeah right." Skuld muttered. She turned and looked at Gabriel, Ellie, and Midnite. She looked long at Midnite, then back at Mara.

"This that famous Bar you kept talking about to Urd?"

"Maybe." Mara replied.

Skuld shook her head and looked back at Constantine and Angela.

"Well let's get this trip done shall we?"

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The four appeared in a lush green field outside a large pure white wall. The two mortals looked around.

"Heaven?" Constantine asked.

Skuld pointed at the wall.

"On the other side." She said, "You didn't think I'd actually bring you AND a demon into Heaven did you?"

"Well it would make seeing my son easier." Constantine replied.

"Please." Skuld growled, "I'm already risking a lot by having you here to see you son."

"You aren't the only one sister." Came another female voice.

A tall platinum blond goddess was walking towards them. Her facial markings consisted of triangles under her eyes, and an upside down triangle on her forehead. Just behind her was…..

"Mark!" Angela shouted, running towards her son. Constantine followed at a slower pace.

"Urd." Mara said, nodding her head in greeting.

"Mara." Urd replied, "How was Alaska?"

"Fuck you."

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"It's just like you said it was Dad." Mark said, "Big city, lots of light…….." He paused for a moment. "A lot of the Gods react to the name though."

"I imagine they would." Constantine replied, "I've done a lot of things that aren't likely to be forgotten soon. By either side."

"Mark," Angela began, "Are you…..?"

"I'm fine Mom." Mark replied, "I'm here aren't I?"

"How did you end up here?" Constantine asked, "We went to McLintok. He said it was that Demon at the college. A red head named Kirishima."

Mark frowned.

"He said that?"

"Yes." Angela replied, "We went to the college and found her."

"I shot her." Constantine said.

Mark's eyes widened.

"You deported her?"

"I don't know." Constantine growled, "I've gone from believing she's a demon, to a human, and now back to demon. When I left she was on the ground in a puddle of her own blood."

Mark sighed.

"I wish you hadn't." he said, "It wasn't her."

Constantine crossed his arms and stared at his son.

"So I shot a demon? I've done it before. What makes shooting this one so bad? Is it because of the Queen?"

"She's different Dad." Mark replied, "Look, you told me demons were evil, that it was our job to remove the more 'unruly' ones from the world. She wasn't anything like that."

"Demons are tricky beings." Constantine said, "You can never turn your back on them. They'll find a way to slip a knife into it."

Mark rolled his eyes.

"Yes Dad I know."

"How do you know so much about her?" Angela asked, "McLintok said you investigated her because of human sacrifices?"

Mark nodded. "For years, young women from the college ended up dead with their hearts removed. At first we didn't know what to look for. Most of the sites where the girls were found were out in the open, and old. We had nothing to go on till another one was killed. So we worked on other cases. Then it happened. A girl was found dead in her dorm, heart removed. I was there within a day of the discovery, and was able to sense the presence of a demon."

Mark looked off into the distance.

"I used every trick you taught me. I even tried 'surfing'." Angela frowned, while Constantine raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "In the end, it was just dumb luck. I was walking through Fraternity row when I sensed not one, but two demons. One house was just oozing with dark energy. I wasn't able to get in, but I was able to look in a basement window. There was a dozen or so frat boys in robes that I could see, all standing in front of an alter. The demon girl was in there, along with a male demon, and what I can only guess was the next victim. What surprised me was that the demoness was protecting the victim, preventing the male demon from harming her. Then this cat showed up……."

"A cat?" Angela asked.

"Cats are partially in both worlds." Constantine remarked, "Or did you forget when I found Isabel."

"….regardless," Mark continued, "The male demon left. The cult was rather upset, I think he was the one that they were sacrificing too. The demoness then said something to them, and left with the victim and the cat. A fire started, and the cult tried to leave, but some kind of force field stopped them."

"The demoness?" Constantine asked.

Mark nodded. "I believe so. I followed them back to the dorm. The demoness comforted the victim all the way back. I spent another four months observing the demoness. She and that victim spent a lot of time with each other, and each seemed to enjoy the others company. I only saw the demoness use her powers two other times. Both times she was defending someone against a criminal."

"That's what Demon Mara said." Angela murmured.

"I told McLintok." Mark said, "My investigation of the demoness ended months ago. She's harmless unless you're committing an evil act."

"McLintok said you were killed by her." Constantine said, "Because you found her out."

Mark shook his head.

"In my entire investigation of her, I only spoke with her once. If she knew who or what I was doing, she didn't react or do a thing."

"McLintok lied to us." Constantine growled.

"I don't know why he did that." Mark said, "But he has been acting strangely lately." He paused for a moment, "For a demon, Kirishima is respected up here, at least by a few of the Gods and Goddesses."

"Who killed you?" Constantine finally asked.

Mark shook his head.

"Last thing I remember was trying to exorcise a demon from a girl. Then there was pain, and I was waking up here."

"Then we have nothing." Angela said.

"No." Constantine said, "We do have a lead. McLintok."

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John Constantine was pissed off.

First off, his son was dead. Demons had killed him. But one man knew why.

And he couldn't go after him.

Upon their return from Heaven, Mara had told them in no uncertain terms that he and Angela were to wait in their hotel room. The Demoness herself was returning to Hell and reporting to the Queen.

Constantine had already been planning on leaving to go after McLintok as soon as the Demoness left. Angela, having lived with the man for many years now, knew he was planning this.

Unfortunately, Mara, like most deities, didn't trust Constantine. She placed a shield in place, preventing Constantine from getting very far out of the hotel room. So far, every trick he'd learned over the years had failed him.

The really annoying part was that Angela was able to freely come and go from the room. But being a former cop, Angela really wasn't up for vigilante justice.

So he was left waiting for the demoness. Another reason for being pissed.

About an hour or so after Mara left, there was a knock at their hotel room door. Constantine went to the door and flung it open.

"It's about damn……" he began to say, but stopped.

"What's wrong?" Angela asked as she hurried over. Her first thought was that he had just frightened some bellhop or maid.

Arriving at the door, Angela wished it had been a maid.

Standing before them, her left arm in a sling, was Mana Kirishima, the demoness Constantine had shot the day before.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Constantine and Kirishima stared long and hard at each other.

"Well?" she asked, "Are you going to let me in?"

Constantine moved out of the doorway, but kept his eyes locked on hers. Kirishima entered the hotel room and Constantine closed the door behind her. The Demoness glanced at Angela.

"Hello." Angela said.

Kirishima said nothing, and looked back at Constantine.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Believe it or not," Kirishima replied, "I asked to be here."

"Why?" Constantine demanded.

Kirishima glanced at Angela, before returning her gaze to Constantine.

"Someone killed your son." She stated, "And they wanted you to think I did it. I want to know who and why."

"And just how do you expect to do this?"

"I'm coming with you."

"No." Constantine growled, "Hell no! I'm not working alongside a demon."

"You worked with Mara."

"I didn't have a choice now did I?" Constantine snapped back, "Now I do. I'm not taking you with!"

"You owe me." Kirishima said as she pointed at her shoulder, "Right now I'm the only thing keeping the Queen from unleashing a horde of Demons after you."

"Bring'em on." Constantine growled. He turned and stormed out of the hotel room. Angela guessed the shield spell left by Mara must have dissipated by Mana's arrival.

Kirishima stared at the door. Angela shifted uneasily, causing the Demoness to glance in her direction.

"Don't take it personally." Angela said, "He's made mistakes over the years, ones that cost him his friend's lives. Seeing you is just reminding him that he's not infallible."

"I don't expect an apology." Mana said, "I won't forgive him either. I'm a Demon. If he expects forgiveness….."

"He doesn't."

"All I want to do is find the ones who painted the bulls-eye on me."

"And we'll do that." Angela replied.

"We won't if Constantine runs off without us!"

"Oh he won't go very far." Angela said, "You can trust me on this."

Mana looked at the woman curiously.

"Is this some kind of married couple thing?"

"No."

"Psychic powers?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"Simple." Angela held up her hand, "I have the car keys."

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The drive to McLintok's was mostly silent. Even with the heat on, Angela could still feel the chill in the car as she drove. Constantine was sitting in the passenger seat, glaring out the windshield. Occasionally he'd glanced up at the rearview mirror, trying to see Kirishima in the back seat. The Demoness seemed to be simply looking out the window. But when Constantine returned his gaze to the road, Angela caught the Demoness' eyes turn towards him. Angela sighed and Kirishima heard it. The two made eye contact through the mirror. Kirishima then pulled a device out of her pocket with her good hand. Angela recognized it as an SDAT. Soon music could just barely be heard from the ear buds the Demoness now wore.

Constantine turned and stared at the Demoness until he felt a hand on his leg. He glanced at Angela who shook her head. He gave one final look at Kirishima, then turned around.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the cemetery. Constantine and Angela immediately got out of the car and headed towards the caretaker's home. They stopped when they noticed Kirishima wasn't with them.

"Are you coming?" Constantine asked as he turned around. Then he saw the look on Kirishima's face. She was standing just outside the entrance to the cemetery, and looked positively pale.

"I can smell it." She said.

"Smell what?"

"Death." Kirishima replied.

Constantine rolled his eyes.

"It's a cemetery." He said, "Of course there's death here. Look around you!"

Kirishima narrowed her eyes at him.

"That isn't the death I'm talking about." She snapped back, "Someone died here. Recently and violently."

"Again. Cemetery."

"Does it look like anyone's been buried here recently?"

Constantine paused a moment. Looking around, he had to agree. The place didn't look like it'd been the site of any recent burials.

"Exactly." Kirishima said as she marched past him towards the caretaker's house.

Constantine followed her, grumbling to himself.

"Let it go John." Angela said softly, "She's only responding to your comments. If you're civil to her, she'll return it."

"Civil to a demon." Constantine grumbled, "That'll be the day."

They reached the house, and Constantine walked up the stairs to knock on the door. He'd barely raised his hand when Kirishima spoke.

"There's no one here."

He paused for a moment, then reached out with his psychic feelers. He could feel something, but nothing alive.

He reached out and tried the door. It opened with a slight creak. He turned and looked back at Angela and Kirishima before entering the house. It looked almost exactly as he and Angela had seen it days before. Nothing seemed out of place. Then he noticed Kirishima. She was looking downward at the floor. He followed her eyes, but couldn't see anything of interest on the floor. He was just about to question her when something caught his eye. Kirishima's eyes were flickering between their normal green color, and red. Then it clicked. She wasn't looking at the floor, so much as looking through it, into the basement.

Ignoring the rest of the house, Constantine headed towards the basement door and started down the steps. Footsteps behind him alerted him to Angela's and then Kirishima's presence behind him.

The basement too, seemed untouched. Constantine moved to the table and began digging through the papers there. Angela was looking over the books in the shelves. Kirishima seemed to be taking an interest in the religious items lining the walls.

"I wouldn't touch those." Constantine said as he shuffled the papers, "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"What do you mean?"

Constantine looked up to see the Demoness looking at him curiously, an ornate Celtic cross in her hands. He stood up and moved beside the Demoness. He grabbed the small tag hanging off of the cross and read it. His eyes were wide in shock.

"This cross was blessed by St Patrick." He said, "There is no way you should be able to touch this!"

"I'm not a normal demon." Kirishima replied, "You should remember that."

"We will." Angela said, moving to the table. She held up the necklace with the rune carved in it's stone. "Have you seen this before?"

Kirishima frowned.

"That's my mark." She replied.

"Any idea why it would be found by one of the victims?" Constantine asked.

Kirishima shook her head.

"I haven't placed my mark on anything like that." She replied, "Only on my demonic sword."

"Then why would it be on this necklace?"

"I don't know." Kirishima said, "I'm barely in my twenties. I haven't had near enough time to create a cult in my name. The older demons, the ones with a few thousand years under their belts, they have necklaces like this all over the earth, marking those that they have made deals with, or own their souls." She pointed at the necklace. "I have had nothing to do with anything like that."

Constantine frowned as he stared at the necklace. From beside him, Angela spoke.

"What about the other demons?" she asked, "Would they know your mark?"

"Of course." Kirishima replied, "All demons know the mark of the others. It's like a big sign that says 'so and so owns me, hands off' or 'I am a follower of so and so'."

"Could then another Demon have made this?" Angel asked, "Put your mark on it?"

"It's not unheard of." The Demoness replied, her voice shaking slightly.

Constantine frowned. Something was wrong. The Demoness seemed even more paler then when they'd first entered the cemetery. And now her voice was shaking.

"You still smell it don't you?" he asked.

Angela looked confused for a moment, but understood when Kirishima responded.

"The stench of Death is strong here."

Constantine looked around the room. Looking past the religious items and books of the arcane, nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a basement. A quick glance at the floor and under the table showed a solid concrete slab, unmarred but from time itself. He then looked at the stairs. They were wooden, with what looked like a storage space underneath. He reached out with his psychic feelers. Something was there. It was what he had felt just before entering the house, only stronger. He moved to the panel that opened the storage area and unlocked it. He gave a tug and pulled it open.

The stench of rotting flesh hit his nostrils, causing him to stagger back. Behind him, Angela was retching. Kirishima's face was frozen.

Holding his breath, Constantine peered into the space under the stairs. It was McLintok. His body seemed almost mummy like, covered in insects and webs. The corpse's face was one of horrible pain, ended only by death. Constantine motioned to Kirishima.

"Don't suppose you know what killed him?" he asked.

Kirishima hesitated, before walking over. Her eyes flickered slightly as she stared at the corpse.

"Hard to say for certain," She began, "But it looks like he died of a heart attack."

"A heart attack?" Constantine asked.

"Brought on by fear." Kirishima replied. She looked up at Constantine. "Demons can kill without going biblical."

"So how do you kill?"

Kirishima's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"Use your imagination." She snapped. She whirled about and walked over to the bookshelves. Angela then walked up to Constantine.

"You should really stop provoking her." she muttered.

Constantine ignored the comment and motioned to the corpse.

"He's been in there sometime. At least a few weeks, even as long as a month."

Angela blinked. "So who did we meet?"

"A very good question." Constantine looked back at where the Demoness was now flipping through the files gathered on her. "Could a demon take the shape of someone they killed? Posing as them?"

Kirishima frowned.

"I don't know."

"What about Ellie, Balthazar, and the low demons?" Angela asked, "How do they get their appearance?"

"Again, I don't know." Kirishima replied, "But I suppose it could be possible."

Constantine looked back at Angela.

"We need to find the fake McLintok." He said.

Angela nodded and closed her eyes.

"I don't know how you expect to find him." Kirishima said, "He's got to be long……" He voice trailed off as she watched Angela begin to move about the basement, her hand dragging slightly along the wall.

"Umm," the Demoness said softly, "What is she doing?"

"Finding our Mr. McLintok." Constantine replied.

"How is she…..?" Kirishima began before Angela moved her out of the way.

Angela stood at the table, staring at it for what seemed a long time. Then her hand moved across and under a pile of papers. When she withdrew it, her hand now held a small matchbook. Constantine carefully took the matchbook from her and read the name on it.

"You've got to be kidding" He muttered.

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"These people are sick." Angela muttered.

They had parked the car across the street from the bar. The name flashed in neon right over the door.

Beezel Pub.

"I don't think there are people in there." Constantine said. He glanced at Kirishima. "Are there?"

"No." the Demoness replied, "It's full of demons."

"Demons." Angela turned to her husband. "You aren't about to walk into a bar full of demons are you?"

"That was the plan." Constantine said as he moved to the trunk of the car. He opened it and began to assemble the holy shotgun. Kirishima stared at it, then looked up at Constantine.

"You don't need that." She said, "Let me go in with you and….."

"No offense." Constantine said as he loaded the gun, "But I've been doing this for a very long time. Besides, you still aren't the legal age to enter a bar."

Kirishima glared at him.

"I may be only twenty." She growled, "But I can still help."

"Help how?" Constantine asked as he cocked the weapon. "You only have one functional arm."

"That's all I'll need."

"Sorry." Constantine replied, " You're overruled. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in the mood for a friendly conversation." He turned and walked towards the bar.

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The door to the bar slammed open, causing all present to look over. Constantine entered, the gun set back against his shoulder.

He looked around and noted all the red gleaming eyes looking his way.

"Hello." He said, "My name is John. I'm looking for friend."

A nearby demon rose to his feet.

"You'll fine no friends here exorcist!" he snarled. Several other demons growled in agreement.

"No need to be angry." Constantine said, "I'm only here for friendly conversation."

"I'll give you conversation." The demon said moving closer to Constantine, "Get the Hell out!"

Constantine lowered his gun and pointed it directly at the demon.

"You call this friendly conversation?" a female voice asked from the door.

Every single demon in the bar froze. Constantine let out a sigh.

"I told you to wait at the car Kirishima." He said.

"And I said I didn't want to."

Constantine turned around to carry on the argument, but the words never left his throat.

The Demoness stood in the doorway. Her outfit had changed from her college girl outfit, to one of black leather, with a flowing cape. Her eyes had also changed from green to red, and red markings, much like Mara's, lined her cheeks and forehead. She walked over and stood beside Constantine.

"Alright!" she called out, "You all had better listen up! We are looking for a demon that looks like this mortal." She waved her right hand and an image of McLintok appeared in the air. "Anyone with information had better tell me right now."

"If we don't?" came a voice from the back.

Kirishima's eyes flared bright red.

"Then you will find me very unhappy." She said, her voice soft and deadly. "If I'm unhappy, Queen Hild is unhappy." She glanced at a corner where two demons had started to move out the back door. "And don't bother trying to leave. I've shielded this place."

Every Demon in the bar remained motionless and silent.

"Tough crowd." Constantine muttered.

"It's about to loosen up a bit." Kirishima growled. She walked over to a payphone near the door and dialed a long number. After a moment, she said something in Demonic that Constantine couldn't catch. The Demons near the phone had though. Many were looking rather pale. Another minutes past, and Kirishima spoke loud and clear.

"Hello Auntie." She said sweetly, "How's Hell? Oh, it still stings bad. No, I haven't damned him yet. Why not? Didn't Mara…..? Oh I see." Her eyes moved about the bar. "Well it seems some low order 'scum' may have had a hand in getting me shot." She held the phone away from her ear as a loud shout of 'WHAT!' came from the earpiece.

"Yes Auntie." The Demoness said as she returned the phone to her ear, "We're at a place where he's hiding, but there are others here who aren't very helpful. I'm going to have Mr. Constantine start 'deporting' them randomly until they talk. You think you could have fun with the 'deportees' as they arrive?"

Every single demon present in the room paled. Almost as one they leaped to their feet and began pointing to a corner, all shouting about how the one they sought was there and they'd be most honored to help the favored of the Queen.

Kirishima smirked as Constantine walked over and grabbed the fake McLintok.

"Never mind Auntie. They were helpful after all." She said, "But you'll definitely want this one when we're done. I will. Bye!"

Constantine led McLintok out of the bar. Kirishima followed, then paused for a moment at the door.

"It would be best if you all stayed indoors for about a hour."

She then turned and left with a swirl of her cape.

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"I see you found him." Angela noted as Constantine led the fake McLintok to the car.

"I had a little help." Constantine replied. He glanced over his shoulder. To his surprise, Kirishima had returned to the t-shirt and jeans she'd arrived in. Her eyes had also returned to green, and there were no sign of the demonic markings on her face.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"A girl's gotta have a few secrets." Kirishima replied. She then turned to the fake McLintok. "Speak: Why did you have me shot?"

The fake McLintok glared at Kirishima.

"You should never have been." He growled, "You are a plague on Hell, a disease. Your very existence is revolting to me."

Constantine frowned, right before he smashed a bottle of holy water against the back of McLintok's head. The demon screamed in pain as the skin dissolved from his head, revealing the demon within.

"You need to learn to treat women better." Constantine grumbled, "Now who do you work for?"

"I'll never tell!" McLintok snapped, "He'll get you Exorcist! He'll get his revenge!"

Constantine leaned back.

"There's few people I know in Hell that want revenge on me this badly." Constantine said, "One is standing beside me, one is Lucifer, and the other is his son."

"Mammon?" Kirishima whispered, "No one has heard from him since….."

"Since he tried to come to Earth?" Constantine asked

"Well…. Yes." Kirishima said. She turned and walked away.

Constantine frowned as he watched Kirishima walk off.

"Looks like the half-breed is upset." McLintok said with a smirk, "Must suck to be a freak of nature."

Another bottle of holy burst over the demon's head, causing him to howl in pain.

"Definitely need to know how to treat a woman." Angela growled. She then turned and went after Kirishima.

"Geez Exorcist," McLintok muttered, "You too weak to fight your own fights?"

"No." Constantine replied, "I'm just know what fights to fight." He then pulled the trigger on the gun.

The demon exploded into ash as the holy bullet hit him.

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Angela walked up behind Kirishima. If the Demoness noticed her, she didn't acknowledge it.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Have you ever wished to be something you couldn't?" Kirishima asked, her back still to Angela.

"There were times I wish I didn't have the powers I do." Angela said, "That my sister and I could have had a normal childhood."

The Demoness chuckled. "Maybe we're more alike then I thought."

Behind her, Angela heard the blast of the gun, followed the sound of ash raining down to the ground, announcing the 'deportation' of the fake McLintok. Within moments, Constantine was beside Angela.

"Everything alright here?" he asked.

Kirishima whirled about.

"No problems here." She stated. She moved off towards the car.

"What's her problem?" Constantine asked.

"You remember what they told us about her?" Angela asked.

"You mean her being the product of Demonic rape?"

"She hates being a demon." Angela said, narrowing her eyes at Constantine. "I think she hates herself even more then you hate her."

"Not possible." Constantine replied.

"Perhaps," Angela replied, "But I think not." She turned and headed back to the car.

Constantine frowned before following.

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The car ride back to the hotel was as silent as the ride out. Once again, Angela drove, occasionally glancing in the rear view mirror at the Demoness. Kirishima sat with her eyes closed, once again drowning out all other sounds with those from her SDAT.

Constantine however was in deep thought. Finally he turned and looked at the Demoness.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

Kirishima opened her eyes and turned off the SDAT with a click.

"What?" she asked as she pulled the buds from her ears.

"Why are you here?" Constantine asked again.

"To find out who wanted me shot." She replied.

"Not that." Constantine snapped, "Why are you on the Earth? Why aren't you in Hell?"

"John!" Angela said.

"It's a fair question." Kirishima said, looking at Angela through the rear view mirror. She turned to face Constantine. "I'm here because of my Mother."

Constantine snorted.

"Your mother? And what does she think of you being a Demon?"

"Well I really don't know because she's dead."

Both Angela and Constantine stared at the Demoness.

"How?" Angela asked softly.

Kirishima looked out the window.

"I used to have a normal childhood." She whispered, "Until I turned four. My Mother had a fear of the dark, she said monsters existed there. As a kid, I agreed. Even thought it was cool Mom had a nightlight too. Nightlights are supposed to keep the monsters away." She closed her eyes. A tear ran down her cheek. "And then the monster came." She turned and looked at Constantine, tears now traveling freely down her face. "The Demon that I'm forced to call 'Father' came to eliminate me and my Mother, as he should have done after he raped her. I watched from under the bed as he killed her."

Angela was horrified, while Constantine nodded grimly. He knew exactly what a Demon was capable of doing, having seen it first hand.

"Before he could kill me, the Queen's guards arrived and took him prisoner." Kirishima sighed, "That's when I found out what I was, a monster, despite anything that Hild told me otherwise."

"You could have turned her down." Constantine pointed out.

"Yeah… right. I could have." Kirishima growled, "A four year old is fully capable of making decisions on her life. Get real. It wasn't until I turned nine that I really thought about leaving, but by then I'd found out why I was the only half-breed." She looked back out the window. "So then it became a matter of survival." She shrugged. "Of course the Doublet system helped in that, but I was a kid. I decide then to be the best Demon I could."

"Obviously that's changed if you're only damning criminals." Constantine pointed out.

"Yeah, it did." She looked back at Constantine. "Even while I learned to become a Demon, I went to school. Around High School, it was decided I was to move to Japan."

Both Constantine and Angela frowned. Kirishima noticed.

"What?"

"There have been rumors." Constantine said, "Japan has been mostly free of Demonic activity since before the Second Impact."

"Probably because of the Goddesses." The Demoness said, "I was sent there to continue to work on becoming a first class. I suppose I was also sent to try and balance out the Goddesses." She sighed. "Either way, I went to High School, fell for a mortal boy, tried to make him mine."

"Is this where some girl wants you dead for trying to steal her boyfriend?" Angela asked.

"Damn Mara. She blabs too much." Kirishima growled, "Yeah, she does. They were also friends with a goddess in the High School. We ended up in a big fight, and I lost."

"If you lost, why are you still on the Earth?" Constantine asked.

"Because things don't work that way for demons like me." Kirishima replied, "Yes she defeated me. Then when I turned up at school the next day, she acted like my best friend." The Demoness went quiet.

"She is my best friend." She finally stated.

Constantine blinked. That comment that Kirishima had made went totally against everything he knew about both Heaven and Hell. No wonder someone wanted her dead.

"So what's next?" he asked.

"We need to figure out why Mammon is suddenly active." Kirishima stated, "He's been quiet for years. Something had to set him off."

"How do we do that?" Angela asked.

"We?" Kirishima repeated.

"Yes 'We'." Constantine replied, "We're in this together."

"I don't think you understand….." The Demoness said.

"Look," Constantine said, "We intend to get the basterd that got our son killed. And I'm willing to go to any lengths to find the asshole!"

"Same here." Angela added.

"So," Constantine stated, "What's next?"

"Next…." Kirishima said softly, "We go to Hell. Literally."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I don't believe this."

"Just accept it."

"I refuse to! I've been there before! So has Angela!"

"This wouldn't be like anything you've done before."

Angela let out a sigh. The entire drive back to the hotel had consisted of her husband arguing with the Demon. Upon arriving, Constantine had started to assemble the things she and he would need as mortals in Hell. Kirishima, however, had gone to the phone and called up Hell. She couldn't make out exactly what the Demoness said, but she did catch the name 'Mara' once or twice.

"I would still rather be the one to go into Hell and find out who is behind this." Constantine growled.

'Go ahead!" Kirishima snapped back, "Try it! You'll be ripped apart by the soldier demons before you know it!"

"That's why you're going to take us!"

"I am NOT taking you to Hell." Kirishima shouted. She then rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I just said that to THE Constantine."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Kirishima narrowed her eyes.

"Do you have any idea how much prestige and honor is waiting for the Demon that takes down the mighty Constantine?" she asked, "How many Demons are willing to make an effort to get up here and knock you down a peg? How much Lucifer absolutely…."

"I get the point." Constantine said, "So why aren't you trying for it?"

"Because I have more respect for mortal life then the others." Kirishima snapped.

"Right." Constantine said, "Respect." He started towards the door. He opened it forcefully and glared at the Demoness. "The only thing you Demons respect is power and hate." He slammed the door as he left.

"He's had bad experiences with Demons." Angela said softly.

"Who hasn't." Kirishima muttered.

The room was silent for several minutes. Angela glanced over at Kirishima. The Demoness was sitting on the side of the bed, facing the wall.

"Why is it bad for us to be in Hell?" Angela asked, "We've been there before."

"I know." Kirishima replied, "So has your son. Whenever a mortal breaks through the dimensional walls, we know."

"So why can't you bring us?"

Kirishima turned and looked at Angela.

"I couldn't guaranty your safety, or his." She said softly, "Even I was once attacked by the soldier demons."

"But you're a demon."

"I'm half demon," Kirishima stated, looking at Angela. "And I'm half mortal. The soldier demons couldn't tell the difference."

"Couldn't?" Angela asked, "Meaning they can now?"

Kirishima nodded. "One attack was more then enough for the Queen to take action."

"The Queen." Angela murmured, "How exactly is there a Queen? I thought Lucifer ruled Hell."

"He does."

"Then how….?"

Kirishima smirked, "'Behind every great man, there is a woman.' Isn't that how the saying goes?" Kirishima sighed. "He hasn't actually ruled for sometime. Welsper, my teacher, tried to explain it to me. Best explanation I understood was that Lucifer found ruling Hell tiresome. He'd rather spend his time personally plotting against the world." She looked off towards the door. "Lately he's been consumed with getting revenge on your husband."

"John does have a way with people." Angela said with a sigh. She then gave the Demoness a curious look. "So….."

"Hmm?"

"Do you want us to keep calling you Kirishima?"

"That's my last name." Kirishima muttered, "In Japan, that's how you're referred to by most people. Only your friends and close associates can call you by your name."

"But we aren't in Japan are we?"

"No. We aren't."

Angela held out her hand.

"Call me Angela?"

The Demoness paused for a moment, before taking the offered hand.

"Mana."

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"Stupid fucking Demon." Constantine growled as he sat in the hotel's bar. "Tell me where I can and can't go."

"Sir?"

Constantine looked up to see the waitress looking at him curiously.

"Just pour me another drink." He growled.

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"Goddesses?" Angela repeated.

Mana nodded, "A whole Apartment load of them."

"But how…why are they there?"

"From what she told me, he mother came to grant her father a wish."

Angela nodded, "I've heard about that. John always scoffed at it. He said the Heavens pretty much ignored the Earth."

"Few people are worthy of a wish these days." Mana pointed out, "He was one of the worthy. He could have had anything he'd ever wanted. Money, girls, fame, power…… and he said he wished a girl like her would stay with him forever." Mana sighed. "They got married later, and then had Sayoko. They later died in a plane crash of all things, leaving her to be raised by her Aunt."

"So how do the Evangelions play into all this?"

Mana shrugged.

"I never really asked how she became a pilot. Was just one of those things best left unasked. I do know she and the other pilots went through Hell."

"So she's still on the Earth?"

"Living in Japan with her Aunt." Mana replied, "And occasionally visited by other deities."

"The Granddaughter of the Lord….." Angela murmured.

Mana blinked. "Hey now. She's Norse. That makes her Grandfather Odin, even if he's the same person as Jupiter, Zeus, Amon-Ra……. Damn it I always get forget his other names……."

"So there are others?"

Mana nodded.

"Every religion throughout history is represented in both Heaven and Hell."

"It must be quite crowded." Angela stated thoughtfully.

"Eh not really." Mana replied, "For the most part, the various religions don't mingle. Ideology's and such. Greek Gods hate the Roman gods for replacing them, Aztec, Mayan, and Inca gods watched their followers die, unable to do anything. Mortal wise, Heaven and Hell have no true boundaries. There's always room for more."

"What about your mother?"

The Demoness' face froze.

"Surely you've been able to see her?" Angela asked, "Or at least send her a message to her through your friend."

Mana suddenly rose to her feet.

"I think I'm going to need a drink." She murmured.

"I thought you were underage?" Angela asked.

Mana paused at the door, but didn't glance back.

"I doubt they'll card me." She left, closing the door behind her.

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Constantine knew exactly when she entered the bar. Everyone gave off a psychic signature, a mark they made on the world around them. Even the demons he fought, and the angels he loathed gave this off.

All except Kirishima.

To his physic feelers, she was a blank spot, a void in the normal fabric of time and space.

And she somehow decided to sit beside him.

"Largest glass of the best Draft beer you have here." She said to the bartender. As she suspected, he didn't even card her.

"Must make you feel special." Constantine grumbled.

"What?" the Demon asked.

"To walk into a bar and order exactly what you want." he replied, "Must be a demon thing."

"Sure it is." Mana grumbled as her drink arrived. She quickly took a large swig from it. "Just like it's a demon thing to have no living family, no friends, and no life……." She downed more of her beer. "No future."

Constantine frowned.

"You thinking of leaving? Returning to Hell?"

Mana snorted. "What for? Down there I'm an outcast." She sighed. "But then I'm an outcast here too."

Constantine's frown deepened. Something had happened to the Demoness since the time he'd left the hotel room. He wondered how Angela was.

"She's fine." Mana muttered, "I'm the one with the issues."

"If you don't mind me asking, Kirishima," he began, "What is your 'issue' and how did my wife drive you down here."

"Since when do you care?"

"Humor me."

Mana stared out over the bar.

"It wasn't her fault." The Demoness murmured, "She asked me something…….. personal."

Constantine raised an eyebrow. Mana stared at him from the corner of her eyes.

"She asked about my mother." She said softly.

"Ah. Family issues." Constantine murmured, "Since your mother was mortal, I assume she asked if your relationship continued after her death."

"You're too damn intelligent for your own good sometimes." Mana grumbled.

"So she did. And what was the answer?"

"She's not in Hell." The Demoness said, "So she must be in Heaven."

"Asked your friend about her?"

Mana shook her head.

"I wouldn't even think of asking her to……" her voice trailed off.

Constantine frowned.

"What is it?"

"Can't you feel it?" she asked.

Without another question, he sent out his psychic feelers.

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Angela sat on the bed, watching TV, and yet not seeing it. She was deep in thought, a young Demoness being the foremost thing on her mind.

She never noticed the black mist the seeped under the hotel room door.

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Constantine ran as fast as he could down the hall towards his hotel room. He rounded a corner and reached the door. His hands fumbled the keycard before he was finally able to slip it into the slot. Hearing the click, he flung the door open.

The room looked like it'd been through a fight.

A big one.

The table, chairs, lamps, all the furniture in the room had been shattered. Some blood was splattered across the wall. Something on the floor caught his attention. Kneeling down, Constantine picked up the object.

It was Angela's cross.

"It was demons," he said, "Wasn't it?"

"Yes." Came the expected reply.

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know." The Demoness replied.

Constantine turned towards Mana as he rose.

"What do you mean you don't fucking know?" he snapped, "How could you not know?"

Mana threw her one good arm in the air.

"What would you like me to say?" she shouted, "They took her because she's your wife? Because Mammon possessed her? Maybe because she was one of those kids that burn-up ants with a magnifying glass. I don't know!"

Constantine started to raise his hand, clenched in a fist.

"What?" she shouted, "You want to hit me? Go ahead! Hit me! We'll get her back that much quicker if you hit me!"

Constantine closed his eyes, his hand continued to shake.

"Come on!" Mana snarled, "I'm a demon remember! Big bad and evil! Hit me! Hi…."

Mana suddenly found herself staring at the ceiling.

And she was experiencing some major pain in her jaw.

"Ow." Was the first word out of her mouth. Though that caused the pain to flare abit.

Constantine's face appeared above her. He looked her over a bit before speaking.

"You told me to." He finally said.

"So I did." She replied, her hand quickly moving up to hold her jaw. She slowly moved it, checking to see if it was broken. Then she looked at Constantine. "Feel better?"

"A bit." Constantine looked down at the cross in his hand.

"We'll get her back."

"How Kirishima?" Constantine growled, "We don't even know who has her."

"We don't." Mana replied, "But I know someone who might."

"Who?"

"You'll find out. Once we get there."

"Get where?"

Mana rose to her feet.

"Hell." She stated.

Constantine blinked.

"I thought it wasn't allowed?"

Mana growled. "I'm taking a major risk with my career here. Could you at least not be sarcastic to me?"

"Fine." Constantine said, "Any other requests?"

"Yeah. Call me Mana."

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The appeared in a ball of fire. Constantine looked around, noting the flames burning across the land. High above him, instead of sky, he saw a rock ceiling.

"Not to be a pain," He heard Mana say, "But could you release me now?"

In order to get into Hell, Constantine was forced to hold onto the Demoness. One might have called it a hug, but then Constantine and Mana probably would have killed the person who suggested that.

"Thank you." Mana replied as Constantine released her. She then looked around. Before teleporting into Hell, Mana had transformed into Demon outfit. Her facial markings had also appeared, and her eyes had changed to red. "Stay close."

"What for?"

Mana turned and glared at him.

"We are in Hell." Mana stated slowly and clearly, "The Demons here will not hesitate to kill you. If you stay close enough to me, they will sense only me."

"Because your half-mortal." Constantine said, understanding.

"Exactly."

The two walked hurriedly toward a large building. Constantine frowned.

"It's looks like the castle from Disneyworld." He muttered.

"It most definitely isn't the happiest place on Earth either." Mana replied, "Not unless your into pain, torture, hellfire….."

"Ok ok."

The walked in silence. Several times, Constantine turned as he heard a growl, but he failed to see what was created them. He glanced at Mana, but she ignored him, marching purposefully up towards the doors. They opened for her unhesitatingly. Constantine followed her inside and looked around. He'd have thought there would be guards of some kind, guarding the entrance. He asked Mana about that.

"Soldier Demons." Mana replied, "They guard that particular entrance."

"But…." Constantine began.

Mana stopped and whirled around.

"The only reason we got past them was because they recognize me." The Demoness said, "If it had only been you, they would have torn you apart." She quickly turned and resumed her walk. Constantine quickly followed.

Mana led him to a large statue. She paused to look around, before grabbing the statue's arm and lifting it up.

"You can't be serious." Constantine said as a hidden door opened.

"Deadly serious." Mana replied entering the secret passage. Constantine followed and Mana shut the door behind them. She led the way down the hall, then up several stairs before turning down yet another hall and opening a door. She looked out, then waved for him to follow.

Constantine looked around and found himself standing in one of the main hallways. Mana quickly led him to yet another door and opened it. He entered and found himself in a bedroom. From the color of the curtains and the bedspread, he determined it had to be a girl's bedroom.

"Yours?" he asked.

"Yes." Mana replied.

"Pink?"

"Don't. Ask." The Demoness growled. She then pointed at the floor. "Stay here. I'll be back."

"Wait a moment!" Constantine said, "I thought you told me I'd only be safe if I was with you. If you leave, won't they detect me?"

"No." Mana said, "Because they know this is my room. Even when I'm not here, they can still detect my……. Mortal presence." She turned and headed towards the door. "You are in the second most safest place in Hell." She said opening the door. "Just try and keep quiet and don't answer the door." She then left.

Constantine looked around the room.

"Safest place in Hell." He mocked, "Keep quiet and don't answer the door."

He walked over and looked out the window. From here, he could see far out across Hell. Not too far away, he could see a giant hole.

"The pits of Hell." He murmured.

He then turned back and looked at the room.

"Pink." He grumbled.

He never noticed the creature that entered the room on four feet.

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Mana walked quickly down the hallway, her cape billowing behind her. She turned and entered the main concourse. There, a large group of Demons were huddled before a set of massive doors, all seeking an audience with the Queen.

If there were this many in the hall, Mana knew there were many more inside, as well as members of the Royal Court.

Fortunately, there were ways around this.

Mana walked to a portion of the wall near the massive doors. She tapped a code into the wall, then stepped through it. A hallway was revealed, one that ran parallel to the Throne room. She hurried down to the end of the hall and stepped out into yet another Hallway. This one was free of Demons, save a few guards.

She quickly walked up to one of the guards and whispered into his ear. The Guard nodded, and vanished into the Throne room. Mana, meanwhile, walked through a different set of doors and entered the Queen's sitting room. Queen Hild entered moments later. Mana started to bow before her but found herself wrapped up in a hug.

"Oh Mana!" she cried out, "How are you feeling? I've been so worried about you!"

"I'm fine." Mana said, "What has that Demon told you?"

Hild frowned. "He has said nothing. Not even where his allegiance lies."

"Damn." Mana grumbled, "That makes the next thing more difficult."

"What thing?"

Mana sighed. "The mortal Angela Constantine has been abducted. I believe it was done by a Demon."

Hild nodded. "So I assume you are here to determine what Demon has her and where."

"Yes My Queen."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Hild said, starting towards the door. She paused and looked back. "Unless there's more?"

Mana nodded grimly. "There's more. Constantine was all set to follow me."

Hild's eyes flared at the mention of the mortal.

"Had he done so it would hurt his chances of finding his wife. I'm glad you talked him out of it."

"I didn't…..exactly….."

Hild's eyes went wide in shock and rage.

"MANA KIRISHIMA JUST WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

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Constantine dove over a table, just avoiding the claws that had attempted to scratch him. He quickly grabbed a chair and held it out from his body, the legs pointed at the vicious creature that had attacked him.

A black and white house cat.

The cat growled and hissed at Constantine, trying to bat the chair away. Constantine, meanwhile, was trying to find a token or holy water to drive the demonic cat off.

The door to the room then opened, admitting Mana, followed by a gorgeous platinum blond with a very revealing dress. The blond had demon markings on her face in the shape of stars. She also bore a resemblance to the goddess he had seen the other day.

"Mana Mana Mana," the Demoness said, holding her head, "I have no problems with you bringing boys into your room, but this is just disturbing…."

Mana's face went beet red.

"It's not like that! I'm not that perverted!"

The other Demoness raised an eyebrow.

"Then what was with all the moaning you did at night after you met Shinji?"

Mana's eyes went wide and her face went even redder.

"That….." she began, "Who….." Suddenly she turned her eyes on the cat. "JUST WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING HER!"

The Cat gave one final hiss at Constantine before looking at Mana.

"She wanted to know everything." The Cat replied.

Constantine abruptly sat on the floor and stared at the cat.

"It talks?" he mumbled.

"Yes," the cat replied, looking back at Constantine. "I talk and…." The cat was cut off as Mana grabbed it by the scruff of the neck. She glared deep into it's eyes.

"If you so much as tell her anything I say in my sleep again," Mana whispered, her voice low and deadly, "I will not only tell her what you've been moaning about, but who you're moaning for!"

The cat's mouth dropped open.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"So help me, I would!"

The cat sagged down, defeated. Constantine stared at the Demoness and cat, before turning his eyes to the Platinum blond. She'd watched the conversation with a slight sparkle in her eyes, but upon noticing him staring at her, they'd taken on a dangerous glow.

"Um, Mana?" Constantine said from where he sat. Mana's head snapped to him. "Who is that? And why does the cat talk?"

"John Constantine," Mana said, "Meet the Dark Mistress of Hell, her Royal Highness, Queen Hild."

Constantine simply nodded to her. Hild said nothing.

"And this furball is Welsper," Mana said, shaking the cat slightly by it's neck. "She was a demon, but he got a bit too frisky and was punished."

"Wait." Constantine said, raising his hand, "You said it's a she, but it was a he?"

Mana nodded. "Queen Hild gives out rather severe punishments."

"I see……" Constantine murmured, looking back at the still very annoyed Hild, "Umm… what did I do to annoy her may I ask?"

"For starters you shot Mana." Hild growled, "And very nearly killed her! You should thank whomever actually lets you worship them that Mana's friend knows first aid. If she had died…." Hild seemed to get a bit darker and taller, casting a black shadow on the room as her powers grew. "…. nothing would save you from me nor the Heavens."

For one of the few times in his life, Constantine actually gulped. Hild returned to normal, then looked to Mana.

"Meet me in the control room." She said, then left.

Mana waited a moment, then looked at Welsper.

"Stay here." She said, "And watch him. If anything happens, call me."

Welsper nodded. Mana set Welsper down, then walked over and held out her good hand to Constantine. He took it and allowed her to help him to his feet.

"Wait here." She said, "From the control room, we can tell when and if someone entered Hell, and what they brought with them. That way we can eliminate Hell as her location, and move to other means."

Constantine nodded. Mana started towards the door, when he stopped her with a question.

"Wouldn't it list you bringing me here?" he asked.

"No," Mana replied, "Because I brought you here." She then left.

Constantine frowned, pondering what she had said. Then he remembered.

"She's half-mortal and the system would only see her, not me." He said out loud. He sat in a chair and looked around the room. Welsper was now sitting on the bed, watching him.

"I don't suppose you'd be able to explain what the Queen meant about killing Mana?" Constantine asked, "Or is that because she's half mortal too?"

"There is much you obviously don't know." Welsper growled.

"Explain it to me then." Constantine replied, "Is it because Mana is like a daughter to the Queen? And why would Heaven care if a Demon was dead?"

"Because a God or Goddess would be dead as well." Welsper stated.

That caused Constantine to sit up quickly.

"What!"

"It's a balance." Welsper explained, "High level Demons such as myself and Mana are linked to a God or Goddess in Heaven. Should a God die, then a Demon dies with it. Because of a memory block, we do not know who our double is, and nor do they. We refer to this system as the Doublet system."

Constantine pondered this a moment.

"So had I killed Mana…….."

"A God would have died as well." Welsper finished, "And both sides would come looking for the one responsible. You."

Constantine shifted in his chair. No wonder all those people in Midnite's had been giving him dirty looks.

"It's a good thing she's alive then." He finally said.

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Angela awoke blindfolded, her arms and legs tied. A gag prevented her from making even the smallest of noises.

"She's awake My Lord." She heard a voice say.

"Excellent. I feared that she might have been damaged in coming here." A second voice said, "Mortals are such fragile creatures after all."

"Forgive me My Lord," the first said, "But why did we bring her here? We could have simply killed her."

"Ah, but you forget our plans." The second said, "If we simply killed her, Mammon wouldn't be implicated."

"I still don't understand why we're doing this to Lord Mammon. He wishes to bring damnation to the mortal world……."

"Mammon is an idiot. He only thinks of the mortals and how he wants to torture them for eternity. My way, we will rule over all of Hell, Earth, AND Heaven." His voice then got closer to Angela. "Of course my dear, you probably wonder why I even bother to say this around you. Quite simply, after Mammon finds you, and your Husband tries to rescue you, you won't live long enough to tell anyone."

He then let out a laugh, followed by the first voice.

Angela could only pray that he was wrong and John would find her.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hild and Mana stood silently over the table display, watching as data scrolled past them at high speed. Around them, Demon hackers worked at their workstations, wrecking havoc on Yggdrasil, or on the mortal world, one did not know.

And Mana really didn't want to ask.

"This is rather tedious." Hild muttered, her eyes flicking over screen.

"Who else would you trust to do this." Mana replied.

"True." Hild replied, "How's the shoulder?"

"Stings. Maybe I should go to Sayoko and have her heal it."

Hild chuckled. "I still don't get how you two can become that close."

Mana shrugged, "Must be a half-mortal thing." Suddenly her right hand came out and pointed at a line of data. The screen halted accordingly.

"There." She said, "A mortal was detected in the presence of a Demon about twenty minutes before I arrived with Co….him."

Hild frowned and entered a command into the table. The table display flickered a moment, then brought up a window.

"What the….." Hild reentered the command. Again the window flashed at her.

"Someone's been fucking with the system." Hild growled, "I can't bring up the identity of the Demon."

"No," Mana said, "It was there. Someone erased it."

"Impossible." Hild said, "No one in Hell has the access to do that but me."

Mana slowly raised her head.

"Yes," she said softly, "Someone else does. Actually, two Demons."

Hild frowned, then it clicked.

"Lucifer." She murmured, "and his brat Mammon."

"It's got to be Mammon." Mana said, "Lucifer wouldn't bother trying to hide what he was doing."

"No, he wouldn't." Hild stared at the table display, "Direct the scans towards Mammon's palace. I want to know what that troll is up to."

Mana nodded and entered the command into the table. A moment later, Hild and Mana were staring wide eyed at each other.

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Angela jumped as a door opened and footsteps entered, wherever she was.

"What'ssss thisss?" a voice asked. The voice set off an old memory in Angela.

"We found her here Milord." Another voice replied, "We have no idea how she got here."

"Sssimpleton." The first voice snapped. Then the blindfold was removed from her face.

As Angela's eyes adjusted to the light in the room, she saw who had removed the blindfold, confirming what her memory of the voice already had.

Mammon stood before her, glaring at her with his red eyes.

"It issss Consssstantin'sssss bitch." Mammon growled. He then looked at the other demon present in the room. "Check the other roomsssss. Consssstantine musssst be here asssswell."

"Yes Milord." The demon bowed and hurried off.

Mammon leaned back in close to Angela. She shut her eyes, praying desperately that he'd leave her alone.

"I don't know how you got here." Mammon said, "But I never turn down a gift."

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"I'm sorry," Constantine said, "Could you repeat that? In plain English. You found Angela, but……"

Hild rolled her eyes while Mana spoke.

"Basically Mammon has got himself an Army." She said, "He's got maybe a fourth of the Demon population there. Around his Palace, and Angela is smack in the middle."

Constantine shrugged. "So? I mean if they're anything like Ellie and Balthazar….."

Mana shook her head.

"Constantine listen to me, these aren't low class Demons. We're talking about Class 1 and 2s."

Constantine shrugged.

"They are high level demons." Hild growled, "Mana is a class 2. She's got enough power to level a continent."

"First Class could vaporize the world." Mana added.

"He's got more then enough power in that army to destroy Earth, and anything within several trillion light-years of it." Hild added.

Constantine frowned.

"What could he be planning with that size of an army?" he wondered out loud. He glanced at Hild. "Could he try and overthrow you?"

Hild shook her head. "If he did, he'd have to answer to Lucifer. Besides, My force is three times the size of his. Plus it'd get the attention of Heaven."

"How?"

"Doublet System." Welsper said from where he was sitting on the bed.

"Right." Constantine replied, "Suppose he attacked Heaven? You know the whole end of the world thing?"

"Doublet System still in effect." Mana replied.

"And he's still outnumbered." Hild added, "Plus Heaven has their Valkyries."

"Right the Valkyries." Constantine repeated, "I've read the Norse legends. I suppose they'd bring the honored dead from Valhalla?"

Hild rolled her eyes again. "I'm not getting into a theological discussion with a person I'd rather see roasting over a spit. Just believe me when I say the Valkyrie have more then earned their reputation."

"Right." Constantine said, "So how do we go about getting my wife back from the little basterd?"

"Regardless what he's done," Hild said, "He still is the son of Lucifer."

"So get him to deal with it."

"We…..can't"

"Why the Hell not!" Constantine shouted, "You run Hell for him! Don't you know where he is!"

"No." Hild replied, "We don't."

Constantine ran hand through his hair. "That's just fucking great. So now what do we do? I'm not slitting my wrists to get the attention of him again."

"You don't have to." Mana replied, "Because I'm going over there to get her back."

Hild turned and looked at Mana slightly shocked. Constantine stared at the young Demoness as well.

"How?" he asked, "Are you just going to walk in there and ask for her back?"

"Something like that." Mana replied.

Hild's frown grew deeper. She grabbed Mana by her good arm and pulled her towards the door.

"Excuse us," she said to Constantine and Welsper, "I need to have a small talk with this one."

The two entered the hall and the door closed. Almost immediately Hild's voice started yelling in Demonic. Constantine blinked.

"What's that about?" he asked the Cat.

Welsper sighed. "You have no understanding of Demons do you."

"What the Hell are you talking about." Constantine growled, "I've sent more of your kind back to Hell then…."

"You've dealt with Low Level Demons." Welsper snapped back, "High Level is different."

"How different?"

"What Mana plans on doing to fighting Mammon to get your wife back." Welsper replied, "She's going to call him out."

Constantine blinked. "That's crazy! She's injured! She could even be killed!"

"Which is exactly what the Queen is telling her." Welsper listened for a moment, his ears turned towards the door. "It's not working though. She's rather stubborn at times."

The two reentered a moment later.

"Alright." Mana said, looking at Constantine, "Let's go."

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Mana and Constantine slowly approached Mammon's palace. Not surprisingly, Mara and Welsper followed, both having been sent by Hild to observe.

As they grew closer, Mana reached up and removed her sling. She then began to slowly flex her left arm, wincing several times as she moved her shoulder.

"As you sure you should be doing this?" Constantine asked.

"You of all people know Demons exploit weaknesses." Mana muttered.

"Not your arm," Constantine said, "This. Calling Mammon out. Not that I mind the idea of him loosing a limb or two, but you could get killed."

Mana smirked.

"Why John Constantine, do you actually care about what happens to a demon like me?"

Constantine blinked. "Ah no…. of course not. I could care less what happens to you. I was thinking of your doublet."

Mana nodded her head, but her smirk remained.

"I don't plan on dying." She replied, "As to my doublet, she's been in worse scrapes."

"What?" Constantine asked, stunned, "You know who your doublet is? I didn't think that was allowed."

"It isn't." Mana replied, "But we're both keeping silent about it." She looked back up at the palace. "I think we've been spotted."

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"Milord!"

Mammon turned from where he was reacquainting himself with Angela.

"Have you found Conssssstantine?"

"He's approaching the Palace." The Demon replied, "Lady Mara and Lady Mana approach with him."

Mammon growled. "The half-breed? What doessssss sssshe want?" He turned and stared at Angela.

"Ahh," he said, "Perhapsssss I already know."

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The group paused before the massive doors of Mammon's palace. Constantine looked at the doors, then looked over at the demons.

"Do we knock, walk in, or what?" he asked.

"We wait." Mana replied.

"For what?"

The doors opened at that moment. Exiting were a dozen Demon Guards, two holding Angela between them. Mammon followed a moment later.

"Ahhhh Conssstantine." Mammon growled, "How nice to ssssee you again."

"Mammon." Constantine replied, "I hope your ass feels good because I'm about to kick it."

"Mammon." Mana said, silencing Constantine with a look, "I have come for the mortal."

"Ssssshe is not yoursssss to take." Mammon snarled, "Ssssshe was a presssent to me."

"She isn't yours to have." Mana stated.

"You will not have her." Mammon growled.

Mana held out her hand. A sword appeared within it.

"Then I'll take her." she growled before charging.

Mammon dodged the charge and pulled out his own sword. With a loud crash, steel meet steel and the fight began.

From the start, Constantine knew Mana was in trouble.

She was skill with the sword, there wasn't any doubt about it. But her shoulder wound made it difficult for her to use her left arm in strikes. She was also slow in responding to attacks from her left side. Even more unfortunate, Mammon had noticed these things as well, and was directing more and more stronger attacks against Mana's left side.

Mana seemed to be tiring as well, constantly using her right arm to make up for the left's weakness. Mammon began to make it through her defenses, once barely missing her head, the second time leaving a long slash on her right bicep. Then with a yell, Mammon lowered his shoulder and slammed into her, sending her sword flying, and her tumbling to the ground. She started to rise but stopped, feeling the point of a sword on her neck.

"It endssss now, Half-breed" Mammon hissed. He then tightened his grip on the sword. "You do not dessserve to live." He started to raise his sword up.

"You can't!" Mara shouted, "The Doublet system!"

"I don't care!" Mammon cried out, "Let the war againssst the Heavenssss begin!"

He started to drive the sword downward when a blade pressed itself hard against his neck.

"Now Mammon," Constantine said softly as he held Mana's sword against the Demon's throat. "It's not nice to pick on someone smaller then you."

"How dare you interfere!" Mammon growled. He glanced at his guards to find them frozen in place, wanting to get the mortal that dared to threaten their boss, but not wanting their boss to become dead.

"I don't remember anyone saying I couldn't help Miss Kirishima there." Constantine replied, "And if it is cheating…….. well you Demons are always finding ways around the system aren't you?"

Mammon remained silent.

"Release my wife." Constantine demanded, pressing the blade a bit deeper into Mammon's neck. "Now."

Mammon felt a trickle of blood run down his neck. He hated this. Losing to Constantine again!

"Release her." Mammon ordered.

The guards released Angela, who quickly ran to where Mara and Welsper were helping Mana from the ground.

"Good boy." Constantine said, "Now be a good puppy and stay."

Constantine stepped away from Mammon and walked back to where the others were standing.

"I didn't need your help." Mana growled.

"Of course you didn't." Constantine replied.

"I had him right where I wanted him."

"Sure you did."

"I could have defeated him."

"Yes you could have."

Mana looked away.

"Thanks." She grumbled.

"Don't mention it." Constantine replied, "Ever."

"Can we go home now?" Angela asked.

"Sure," Mara said, "We just have to….."

A yell startled them. Mammon charged at Constantine, his sword raised and ready to plunge into the mortals chest. Constantine started to raise his arms in a futile effort to stop the blade. Behind him, Mana started moving to block Mammon. Angela was screaming, while Mara shouted a warning.

Then time began to slow down to a stop.

Mammon's charge ended with the demon's sword just inches from Constantine's chest. Constantine let out a long breath as he realized just how close to death he had come. Then something slammed into him, sending him to the ground.

"What the….?" Constantine rolled over to find Mana beside him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Saving your life." Mana replied, "Now stand back while I…." Her voice trailed off as Constantine pointed.

"I don't think you did that."

Mana turned her head and looked. Her eyes went wide as she took in the sight of a frozen Mammon, his face still one of rage. Angela's mouth was open in a silent scream. Mara seemed to be in the middle of casting a force bolt, and Welsper seemed to be hiding behind the older Demoness.

"Why aren't they moving?" Mana asked slowly. She turned back to Constantine who was looking at his watch.

"Time stopped." He said, holding out his watch. Sure enough, the second hand was frozen in place.

"But if time is frozen," Mana began, "Why are you moving? Why am I moving? Who…."

Constantine sighed as Mana rambled questions. Then he spotted the steaming oily foot prints on the ground.

"Mana," Constantine murmured, "Your Boss is here."

"Huh?" Mana whirled around to find herself face to face with the person who ruled over all of Hell and the Demons within it, even Hild.

Lucifer.

Mana quickly dropped to her knee.

"Milord." She said softly.

Lucifer smirked. "At least you have proper manners half-breed. Perhaps there's hope for you yet."

Mana wisely said nothing.

Lucifer glanced over at Constantine.

"Why John," he said, "What brings you to my domain? Checking out housing for your future arrival?"

"Actually I was getting my wife back from your son." Constantine replied, "Of course you knew he had her taken."

"Of course." Lucifer said, frowning slightly.

"This is the second time he's gone after her." Constantine pointed out, "You think he has a ting for mortal women?"

"He should know better then that." Lucifer snarled. He then glanced at the still kneeling Mana. "Of course we know what dabbling in mortals can bring."

For some reason, Constantine found the Dark Lords comments directed at Mana very insulting. It angered him to see the Demoness treated like that. Yet the Demoness herself seemed unfazed by them.

"So what brings you here?" Constantine asked, "Finally reigning in Junior?"

"Sadly yes," Lucifer replied, "While I little care what he does, causing a war with Heaven isn't on my agenda……yet." He glanced at Mana. "While we'd lose only a half-breed, the Heavens would lose a God, and would not be very pleased."

"Speaking of which," Constantine said, "I know you stopped time so we could have this little talk, but what about her? Why isn't she frozen?"

"A slight quirk in the system." Lucifer replied with a sigh. "Apparently none of the Time deities are affected when I stop time. Not the Goddesses of the Present, Past, Future, or Forever." He then glanced at Mana. "Nor is the Demoness of time."

Mana looked up curiously. Constantine looked at Mana, then back at Lucifer.

"She's a Demon Fate?" he asked.

"Yes, sadly." The Dark Lord said, "What one, I could care less. We demons don't bother with such titles. Power, prestige, rank, that is what we hunger for." He then turned to his son. "Which reminds me."

Time suddenly restarted. Mammon fell forward, slamming the blade of his sword deep into the earth. Angela stopped screaming and looked around, confused as to where her husband had just vanished to. Mara and Welsper both noticed Lucifer right away and fell to their knees (or whatever Welsper has as a cat). Mammon's demonic guards also fell to their knees before the Dark Lord.

Mammon stood up and noticed Lucifer.

"Father," he began.

"Enough." Lucifer said, cutting Mammon off with a glare. "You obviously have learned little since your escapade with Gabriel. You realize what you could have done?"

"Father I…."

"Fool! You could have started a war!" Lucifer roared, "It is not yet time for my rise. Until then you will learn obey me!"

The Dark Lord raised his hand. Mammon screamed as his body seemed to implode into itself before vanishing with a pop. He then turned to Mara.

"Demoness Mara." He said, "Get these…… mortals out of here. And take the Half-breed with you."

"Yes Milord." Mara replied.

Lucifer then turned to Constantine.

"I will see you again John." he growled.

"Until then," Constantine said, "And in case you didn't understand me last time, I'll give it to you in stereo." He raised both hands and flipped the Dark Lord a double bird.

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Angela and Constantine sat alone in their hotel room staring at the TV, but not. Their minds kept going back to the events of the last several days, as well as what was to happen the next day.

Their son's funeral.

"Tomorrow is going to suck." Constantine grumbled.

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Hild stood on her balcony, looking out over Hell. Smoke rose in the distance where Mammon's palace had stood. For a second time, a mortal had dared to insult the Dark Lord. Mammon's palace had been the target of his rage afterward.

She sensed him even before he appeared.

"I suppose Lord Mammon will need a new palace now?" she asked.

"My son can stay in the eighth ring of Hell for all I care." Lucifer growled, "Because of him, Constantine has gotten the better of me again."

The two were silent for several long moments.

"I do see what you mean about her." Lucifer finally said, "There is a hidden strength within Mana." He turned to face the Queen. "One that could be used for us, or against."

"Despite what you think," Hild stated, "Mana is a Loyal Demon. She will do whatever I say."

"The girl is more mortal then Demon." Lucifer growled, "Why should she listen to you?"

"Because," Hild said softly, looking back out across Hell, "I'm the only family she has left."

"Have you forgotten about her?" Lucifer asked, emphasizing 'her'.

"No." Hild replied, "I haven't. But then we've heard nothing from her since her banishment."

"Things change." Lucifer snapped.

"Yes, they do." Hild replied, "What of the Army Mammon was creating?"

"It's been dispersed." Lucifer replied, "We have no need to fear an uprising."

Hild only nodded. Lucifer looked back out over Hell.

"Take care of her Hild," Lucifer said, "One day, that little half-breed will have more power then even me." He then vanished.

Hild never took her eyes from the view.

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"It will be soon now."

"Lucifer disbanded Mammon's army. How can it be soon?"

"He disbanded them, but they have joined other units. Now we control even more Demons then Mammon did."

"So how long….."

"I have to take a small trip to Tokyo-3. While I'm away, pick out the best Demons you have. I might have a job for you when I get back."

"Yes my Lord."

"Don't worry Draco. You'll have your war soon enough."

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The dark clouds over the cemetery. They, and the rain that fell, only added to the mood that hovered over a particular gravesite.

'Wonder why it always rains at funerals?' Constantine thought as he watched his only son's casket being lowered into the ground. Beside him, Angela stood silent, tears running down her cheeks. Surrounding the grave were others, mostly people that Mark or Constantine had helped at one time or another. Surprisingly Midnite had come out of his bar to pay his respects. He'd only stayed for a bit, then invited Constantine and Angela back to the bar for drinks.

Soon the funeral was over, and now Angela and Constantine were left alone, staring at the coffin now laying deep in the earth. Nearby, workmen waited to begin the task of filling the grave.

"Let's go." Constantine said softly.

He slowly led Angela out of the cemetery. Behind them, workmen began to fill the grave. They paused though when they noticed someone walking towards them. It was a college aged girl in a dark jacket over a black dress. The rain had dampened her auburn head, causing it to hang limply from her head and shoulders. She walked up to the grave and glanced at the workers. They quickly backed away, allowing her a moment alone. She looked down at the coffin.

"I don't know why I'm here." She murmured, "I didn't know you, even though you knew me. Or at least, thought you knew me." She gave a slightly chuckle. "I'm not even sure if I know myself." She sighed. "I do know you were one of the good ones, probably one of the few who could have understood me if you'd had the chance. But we'll never know will we?"

She reached into her jacket and pulled out a lily. She then tossed it onto the coffin.

"Enjoy paradise. You earned it." She then turned and walked away.

The workmen started back to the grave. Thunder rumbled over head. A workmen paused to look up at the sky, then looked to where the girl had been walking away.

He found nothing.

The girl had vanished.

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Surprisingly for early afternoon, the bar was already hoping. Loud music met their ears as Constantine and Angela approached the bouncer. Again, he let them through without raising a tarot card. Midnite met them as they entered the bar.

"Welcome." He said, greeting them with open arms.

"Nice party." Constantine noted.

"Yes well," Midnite looked back over the bar, "There are few tears being shed over Mammon's current situation."

The three started towards the back. Angela cocked her head slightly as the music played.

"….is that?" she asked.

Midnite nodded and pointed to a corner.

"Yes, it is 'Devil came to Georgia'."

In the corner, a band of dubious origins was playing away. Standing near by, playing away on a violin was Mana Kirishima.

"She plays good." Midnite said, "Scary thing is this is the third time they've played it today." He glanced at Constantine and Angela. "And it's been the Angels requesting it, not that the demons mind." He then nodded towards the bar. "And then there's those two."

Sitting at the bar, drinks in hand and singing along were the platinum haired Goddess Urd, and the Demoness Mara. Both seemed very drunk.

Midnite led them back to his office and walked over to the wet bar and made three drinks. He handed two to Angela and Constantine before grabbing the third.

"To Mark." Midnite toasted.

The three were quiet for several moments.

"What will you do now?" Midnite asked.

"We have a few last things to do before we go." Constantine replied, "Tie up a loose end or two from Mark. Then back to New York."

"I doubt you'll stay there long." Midnite replied.

"What makes you say that?" Angela asked.

Before Midnite could reply, the door to his office opened, allowing Mana to enter. Her left arm was back in a sling.

"I thought you said it was better." Midnite said.

"It was." Mana replied, "But I just played my violin for the third time in the last few hours. You know how much it kills to keep your arm in one position?"

"True." Midnite agreed.

"I just wanted to let you know I'm heading back to my dorm. Just in case another encore is called on, you have a reason to deny it."

Midnite nodded. Mana then turned to Constantine.

"If you expect me to…." He said.

"I don't expect anything." Mana replied, "I really didn't have anything to say to you."

"Then we're even?" Constantine asked.

Mana tapped her chin as she thought.

"No." she replied.

The next thing Constantine felt was her fist as it slammed into his jaw. He stumbled back a bit, grabbing his jaw. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth. He spat a blob onto the carpet.

"Are we even now?" he asked.

"Not even close." Mana replied as she drew back for a kick.

Pain filled Constantine's mind, and stars literally appeared within his vision before it all went black.

Mana paused a moment, looking down at Constantine.

"Feel better now?"

Mana looked up to see Angela's stern face. Immediately she felt guilty.

"Until right this moment," Mana replied, "Yes."

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Days later.

Mana exited the math hall and headed down the sidewalk towards her dorm. The sling was now gone, though she did have some remaining stiffness to work out in her shoulder. The scar from the bullet didn't look all that bad now, at least that's what Chiyo kept telling her. A few more weeks, and it would be totally gone. Too bad the memories wouldn't go as well.

She was just approaching the spot where she'd been shot when a figure stepped out of the shadows.

It was Constantine.

"Are you going to shoot me again?" she asked.

Constantine held up his hands, empty.

"You're not going to kick me are you?"

"Depends." Mana replied. She began walking again. Constantine put his hands into his coat pocket and walked along beside her.

"What brings you here?" Mana asked, "I figured we were done."

"So did I." Constantine replied, "But Angela thought otherwise."

"Oh?"

Constantine looked up towards the sky.

"Midnite talked to us while I was ……icing my injury." He said with a slight glare. "He seems to think Lucifer isn't done with me yet."

"You've insulted him." Mana stated, "Made him look foolish twice now. He can't let that go."

"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about Angela."

Mana frowned and looked at him curiously.

"I know I'm not a Saint." Constantine said, "But Angela is hardly a Devil. Should anything happen to me……"

"I'll keep an eye on her." Mana said softly, "As long as I am able, I will see no Demon cause her any harm."

Constantine nodded.

"Thank you." He turned and started to walk away.

"Constantine."

He glanced back.

"What Kirishima?"

Mana smirked.

"You know this doesn't change anything between us. I'm only letting you get off easy this time."

Constantine felt a slight pain coming from his neither region.

"If that was easy," he said, "I'd hate to find out what hard is. Until next time Kirishima."

"Call me Mana."

"Only if you'll call me John."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Days after Neon Genesis: Goddess R

Constantine peered around the corner.

"Well?" came a voice behind him.

Constantine glanced back at his wife.

"Well what?"

Angela crossed her arms and glared.

"Is it safe to step out of the bedroom?" she shook her head, "I swear, you've become very paranoid."

"Well excuse me." Constantine grumbled, "But I'm still a bit concerned about your safety."

"My safety? John, the entire WORLD was plunged into darkness."

"I'm not married to the world now am I?"

Angela frowned.

"Does this have anything to do with that mysterious phone call you got a week ago? When the world was in darkness?"

Constantine shifted slightly.

"Maybe." He answered.

Angela crossed her arms.

"Well?"

"It was Ellie."

Angela raised an eyebrow. "Your ex-girlfriend slash demon?"

Constantine shifted his feet.

"Well, yeah."

"And what did she want?"

Constantine pointed up.

"The Darkness was the result of the Fall of Heaven."

Angela blinked.

"What?"

"Apparently," Constantine explained, "About half the Demons in Hell decided to invade the Heavens against the Queen's orders."

"Mammon?"

"No."

"Mana?"

"Now you're being silly." Constantine muttered, "That girl……"

Angela raised an eyebrow again.

"Yes?" she asked curiously.

"Never mind." He knew what she was trying to get him to say. He had decided not long after meeting the half demon that she wasn't all that bad. But he wasn't about to share that with Angela. She'd only say 'I told you so'.

"So Heaven was taken over by Demons." Angela said, urging her husband to continue.

"Yeah." Constantine said, "A few gods and goddesses escaped. Last word Ellie had, they were going to retake Heaven, alongside the demon's loyal to the Queen."

"So what does that have to do with us?"

"Ellie was afraid that some of the Rogue Demons would come after me."

Angela pointed to the sky.

"The sun is back though. Doesn't that mean they won and the Rogue Demons are defeated?"

Constantine shrugged.

"Better safe then sorry."

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The alley was like typical alleys, dark, damp, and full of trash. It also contained a homeless person, snoring in an old TV box. All in all, it was rather peaceful.

That peace was shattered as a breeze began to blow through the alley. The breeze became a strong wind, scattering trash about the alley. It soon became strong enough to blow the box the homeless man was sleeping in over.

"What the hell!" he shouted as he looked around.

The wind whipped around the alley, creating a small tornado of debris. Then with a roar, flames shot out of the asphalt. The Homeless man rose to his feet, watching the flames dance skyward. Then just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished, leaving behind a woman with long black hair in black leather with a cape.

"Uhh Miss?" the Homeless man asked, "Are you ok?"

The woman looked up. The man took a step back. Red eyes and facial markings glowed brightly, her eyes staring back at him. She raised her hand out. An energy bolt slammed into the Homeless man, slamming him hard against the alley wall. The man's body gave, the wall didn't.

She then turned and looked around the alley. She then closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she took off down the alley, leaving the shattered mortal body in her wake.

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"Did you feel that?"

Constantine looked up from the morning paper.

"Feel what?" he asked.

Angela frowned. "I'm not sure. It felt……well…like Darkness."

"It's New York." Constantine said, "It has Yankee fans. Of course it's dark."

"No." Angela said, shaking her head. "This was more……. spiritual."

Constantine frowned, then closed his eyes and reached out with his psychic feelers. Like Angela had said, there was a Darkness out there, just at the edge of his senses.

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The woman paused in her tracks, annoying several people walking behind her. She turned her head slightly. Something was reaching out to her………

Something not of Heaven nor of Hell.

Within a moment, she knew exactly what and who it was. She reached back and squeezed.

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Constantine stared at the Darkness a moment, trying to identify it. Then red eyes appeared, staring right back at him. Above the eyes appeared two red slash marks, with more markings below each eye. Constantine realized what they were just as something seized him through the psychic link.

"I see you……" came a very evil voice.

With a yell, Constantine pulled back his feelers and closed the psychic link. In doing so he fell backwards in his chair. Angela was by his side in seconds.

"John!" she shouted, "Are you alright? What was it?"

Constantine shook his head.

"A Demon." He said.

"A Demon?" Angela repeated, "But Ellie and Balthazar never felt like that. Not even Mammon…….."

"Not one of those." Constantine replied, rising to his feet. He started towards the back room where he kept his Exorcist supplies. "One of the others."

"Others?" Angela repeated. Her eyes went wide. "Like Mana?"

"Yes." Constantine said. He opened a box and pulled out his holy shotgun. "But this isn't Mana. She's at least double in strength."

"By why would she…" Angela began to ask, "Never mind, dumb question."

Constantine quickly grabbed several bottles of Holy water as well as several other Holy Relics he owned. He slammed a clip into the shotgun and cocked it.

"Better get ready honey." He said, "Our guest will be arriving soon."

Angela nodded and hurried back to their bedroom. She returned a moment later, shoving a necklace into her shirt before grabbing her handgun and several other items.

Constantine frowned slightly. He knew of only one necklace that Angela wore and that had her crucifix. She never took it off. Unfortunately, before he could ask about it, he heard a loud crash and shouting from the street.

"Damn Demons." He muttered, "Always arrive early."

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The Demoness walked over the shattered door to the apartment building and past the bleeding bodies on the ground. She glanced for a moment at the stairs, before turning to the elevators. With a wave of her hand and the doors parted, revealing an empty shaft.

The Demoness stepped out over the shaft and floated there a moment.

"Going up." She muttered as the doors closed. She then began to rise within the shaft.

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Constantine peered out of the apartment doorway towards the stairs. The apartment door was just barely cracked open. Theoretically, the Demon wouldn't be able to see them.

Theoretically.

The elevator behind him then let out a ding. Constantine frowned and moved to look back up the hall towards the elevators. The doors of the elevator suddenly blew out and slammed into the wall across from them, causing Constantine to jump.

The Demoness stepped into view then. Like Mana, this Demoness wore black leather and a large flowing skirt over what looked like steel toe boots. Completing the image was the standard black cape. Unlike Mana, this Demoness had long black hair.

She strode down the hall, walking past the door Constantine stood behind, her cape fluttering behind her. She paused in front of an apartment door.

That door seemed to bend inward a moment before shattering into pieces. She then entered the apartment.

"Told you we needed a second apartment." Constantine muttered softly.

"Did I argue?" Angela asked, "What now?"

"Well, she should be finding the surprise right about….."

The sound of splashing water and a shout of surprise came from the apartment the Demoness had entered.

"….now." Constantine finished. "If everything works right, she'll be down and….."

The entire building shuddered. Smoke began to fill the hall. It's source was the Constantine's apartment.

"Ok," Constantine muttered, "It didn't work right."

The Demoness stepped back into the hall. She turned her head, looking back and forth, apparently trying to determine where her prey went. She started heading further up the hall.

"What now?" Angela asked.

"We get to the roof." Constantine replied.

"Why the roof?"

"Fire escape. Runs right down to the street." He looked back into the hall. It was empty. "Now go."

The two opened the door and started towards the stairs. Other people were now entering the hallway, trying to figure out where the smoke was coming from. Constantine was almost at the door when he spotted the Demoness coming out of another apartment.

Their eyes locked on each other. Constantine noted that she was still covered in Holy Water. The Demoness hesitated only a moment, her eyes going wide with glee. This glee vanished when Constantine raised his Holy Shotgun and fired two quick rounds. He didn't even wait to see the result, pushing Angela immediately into the stairwell. He'd barely entered when the wall beside him shattered as an energy bolt hit it.

Husband and wife ran up the stairs. As they ran, they tossed a few bottles of holy water behind them. The bottles shattered on the stairs, coating them in the holy fluid. Reaching the top, Constantine lowered his shoulder and slammed into the roof door. The door crashed into the wall as Constantine and Angela stepped out onto the roof.

"There!" Constantine pointed towards the railing for the fire escape. They started to run for it when an explosion tossed them to the gravel.

Constantine rolled over to see the Demoness now standing on the roof top, slowly walking towards him.

"So…." She said, "The Great Constantine lays at my feet. Get ready mortal, for soon you shall meet the Lord of Darkness himself. And I shall return to the Queen's good graces."

"Isn't that kind of impossible?" Constantine asked, "I mean, does the Queen of Hell have good graces?"

The Demoness frowned for a moment. Constantine used that moment to fire off several shots from the Holy Shot gun.

None of the shots hit. Each slammed into a red shield before striking the Demoness.

"Is that the best you can do?" the Demoness asked.

"Well there is this." Angela's voice came.

The Demoness turned just in time to see something small, white, and furry hurtling towards her. It slammed into her. Almost immediately sparks spat off of the Demoness. Her eyes went wide as she screamed in pain. Lightning flickered over her body as if she was being electrocuted.

"Come on John!" Angela shouted as she ran for the fire escape.

Constantine stared at the shrieking Demoness. Whatever Angela had thrown had finally landed on the gravel. The Demoness followed a moment later, sparks and smoke wafting off of her body. The two raced down the fire escape. The Demoness raised her head and dragged herself to the roof edge. Looking down she watched as Constantine and Angela hit the street and vanished into the crowds.

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"What did you throw at her?" Constantine demanded as they walked quickly through the crowds.

"Lucky Rabbit's foot." Angela replied.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"Nope."

"How did you know?"

"Mana." Angela said, "She told me that most, if not all the High Level Demons react badly to Lucky Charms and such. So……"

Constantine shook his head.

"Saved by a dead rabbit."

"The problem is that was my only one."

"It should be alright. We seem to have….." Constantine's voice trailed off.

"It's her isn't it." Angela asked, feeling the same thing her husband was.

Constantine ignored her question and pulled her down another street. They were walking very fast now, despite the other pedestrians.

"She's getting closer John." Angela said.

Constantine took a chance and glanced behind them. He couldn't see anything but the crowds of people. Then he caught sight of movement above the crowds. It was a slight haze, or shadow, like something was there, but wasn't. It seemed to be moving from street lamp to street lamp, keeping pace with them. One street lamp actually snapped and fell. People around it shouted and looked up and around.

But none could see the shadow, even though they were looking right at it.

Constantine felt his stomach lurch. The shadow was the Demoness. And she was still after them.

"Move faster." He muttered.

"It is her, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"What are we going to do?" Angela asked, "We can't run forever."

Constantine looked ahead. They were approaching an Alley.

"I'm going into the Alley." Constantine said, "You keep moving."

Angela stared at her husband.

"Are you crazy?" she asked, "She'll go right after you."

"That's what I'm counting on." Constantine said.

"But John…."

"No buts Angela." He said softly, "You keep going."

He gave her a quick kiss, then vanished into the Alley. Angela stopped in the sidewalk, staring at where her husband had just gone. A pedestrian behind her didn't notice that she'd stopped and slammed into her, sending her tumbling to the ground.

He offered an apology, but kept moving. Angela lay on the sidewalk a moment. She felt a dark presence move over her. She knew the Demon had passed her by, going right after her husband. As she started to rise, she noticed that the necklace she'd picked up at the apartment before they'd left had come out from under her shirt. She stared a moment at the stone and the rune inscribed upon it. She quickly grabbed it into her hand and held it tightly.

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Constantine stood patiently in the alley. He was now far from the street and Angela. Thus no one would be hurt in the battle he knew was about to occur. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of gum.

"Knew I never should have quit smoking." He grumbled as he put the stick in his mouth and began to chew.

Then he felt it.

The alley seemed to grow colder and a bit darker. He looked around. The shadows were definitely growing longer, but of the Demoness, there was no sign.

Constantine pulled his sleeves up, revealing the conjuring tattoos that covered his forearms. He then slammed them together as he shouted.

"_INTO THE LIGHT I COMMAND THEE!_"

Something fought against him, trying to separate the tattoos.

"_INTO THE LIGHT I COMMAND THEE!_"

With a roar as the spell shattered, the Demoness appeared in the alley. She shielded her face with her arms as the darkness that had hidden her was blown away. Her arms were lowered a moment later, allowing her to glare at him with bright red eyes.

"Hi," Constantine said as he raised the holy shotgun, "I don't believe we've met. I'm John."

"You're dead!" the Demoness replied. She raised her hand and sent an energy bolt hurtling towards Constantine.

Constantine moved out of the way. The bolt ripped through his coat just as he opened fire on the Demoness with the shotgun. As he expected, a red shield flared up, blocking the shells.

"You know, I might be mistaken." Constantine said as he and the Demoness slowly circled each other. "But I thought you Demons weren't allowed to directly kill anyone. Especially you High Level types."

"Times change." The Demoness stated, her eyes narrowing.

Constantine nodded his head.

"So I'm guessing by what you said before, you're one of those rogue Demons."

The Demoness didn't reply.

"So how does it feel to get your ass kicked by not only Heaven, but by Hell too?"

The Demoness hissed at Constantine and flung out another energy bolt. Constantine ducked the bolt, and tossed a bottle of Holy Water at the Demoness. The Holy Water had little effect on the Demoness, only making her wet and more annoyed. Constantine had already decided that the Holy Relics he was carrying probably wouldn't help him either. His only weapon really was the shotgun, but unless he could get a shell past the Demoness' shield, the gun was only good for a distraction.

That's when he felt the pulse.

It came from somewhere towards the street. It was like a pebble being dropped into a lake, creating ripples. Only these ripples were full of darkness.

The surprising thing was that the Demoness seemed distracted by the pulse as well. Constantine used this distraction to fire off several more shots.

Again, the Demoness' shield flared into existence. She responded by hurtling an energy bolt at Constantine. This time he couldn't get out of the way. Instead, he moved the shotgun in front of it. The bolt shattered the gun in a powerful blast, sending Constantine flying into the alley wall.

He lay there stunned, holding the remains of the Holy Shotgun in his hands. The Demoness smiled.

"Now Exorcist," she said, "The Dark Lord awaits you……"

She sent forth another Energy Bolt. Constantine couldn't move, and could only watch it move closer. It was just a foot away when a red shield flared in front of him, blocking the bolt.

"WHAT!" the Demoness shrieked.

Then something burst out of a nearby shadow and slammed into the Demoness. The two figures tumbled a moment, before there was a violent explosion, sending both figures flying away from each other. The new figure leaped to her feet quickly, revealing her face to Constantine.

It was Mana, her eyes and demon markings flashing a brilliant red.

"Anyone tell you that you suck Proserpine?" Mana asked the other Demoness.

"Half-breed." Proserpine snarled, "You have brought about Hell's downfall!"

"You did that when you and the others attacked Heaven." Mana replied, "We only restored the balance."

"We had Heaven in our control!" Proserpine screamed, "We had control of the Universe! We had won!"

"No." Mana stated, "We didn't. For without the Light, there can be no Darkness."

"You're wrong!" Proserpine screamed. She pulled out a sword and charged at Mana.

Mana blocked Proserpine's attack and the two began to fight, the sound of sword's crashing together echoed throughout the alley.

Constantine watched the two Demons fight each other as he slowly backed away towards the street. As he watched though, he began to realize something.

Both Demons weren't holding back. They were out for blood.

"John!"

Constantine looked behind him to see Angela running to him. She fell to her knees beside him. He pointed to Mana.

"How'd she get here?" he asked.

"Don't be mad." Angela said. She held up the necklace with the stone and carved rune. Constantine recognized it from when they had first met Mana.

"That's her mark." Constantine said.

Angela nodded. "I held on to it just in case. Somehow…..I called her."

"You summoned a Demon?" Constantine asked.

"Well….yes….."

Constantine's mind reeled at the possible implications.

"What did you offer her?" he asked, "You're soul? My soul? What?"

Angela shrugged. "I actually didn't have a chance to speak with her. I just felt another Demon going into the alley and recognized her presence."

A crash and a shout brought Constantine back to the Demon fight. Both Demons looked particularly battered, but Proserpine seemed to have lost. Her sword lay several feet away from her and she was clutching her side. Mana stared at the other Demoness, breathing heavily and holding her sword at the ready.

Proserpine backed away several steps into the shadows.

"Another time…." She said just as she completely vanished into the darkness.

The alley grew brighter and things returned to the way they had been. Mana put away her sword and walked over. Her markings vanished and her eyes returned to green as she knelt beside Constantine.

"There is a vast difference," she began, "between fighting a Low Level Demon and a Demoness First class. Don't you agree?"

"First Class?" Constantine asked.

"She had enough power to vaporize the planet." Mana stated.

"Why didn't she?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Mana held out her hand and helped Constantine to his feet. "I'm impressed you lasted that long against her."

"Thanks." Constantine looked back to the spot where Proserpine vanished. "Will she return?"

Mana looked at the spot as well.

"I don't know." She said, "She's on the run, along with several hundred others."

"Several hundred?" Angela repeated in shock.

Mana nodded. "They are the survivors from the Rogue's that attacked and controlled Heaven. They ran when their leader and most of their forces were killed."

"Killed?" Constantine asked, "What about the Doublet system?"

"Gone." Mana murmured, "Many Demons now lay dead, as do many Gods." She looked back at Constantine. "This will probably be good for you. With Hell that depleted, you'll most likely be forgotten, except by him."

"Suppose Proserpine comes back?" Constantine asked, "Or some other Demon?"

"Like I said, it probably isn't likely." Mana sighed, "Personal survival takes precedence over everything else to a Demon. They're more worried about their own skins then anything else." Mana looked at the two mortals. "Since she knows you can contact me, she probably won't be coming back."

"I suppose I should say thanks." Constantine said after a moment.

Mana smirked. "How much did that cost you to say?"

"You have no idea." Constantine then glanced at Angela. She was still fingering the necklace. He looked back at Mana. "Now what did it cost us?"

Mana blinked and looked at him confused.

"Cost?" she asked.

"Summoning you." Constantine replied, "There has to be some price for summoning a Demon like you."

"I'm not a normal Demon though." Mana said.

"True."

Mana waved her hand in dismissal.

"No cost." She then looked at the two mortals. "Should Proserpine or any other Demon come near you, don't hesitate to call again."

"I won't." Angela replied, "Regardless how good John thinks he is, this is out of his league."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Honey………" Constantine murmured.

Mana chuckled and started off down the Alley.

"Where are you going?" Angela asked, "Couldn't stay for a bit?"

"There are a bunch of Rogue Demons out there." Mana stated, "Right now they don't have a thing in this world to fear. I'm going to give them something to fear." She then turned and vanished.

"Somehow I find that rather comforting." Constantine murmured.

"Oh do you?" Angela asked.

"Yeah."

The two turned and headed out of the alley. Constantine paused and looked back.

"Good luck Mana." He said.

'Thanks John.' Came her reply in his head.

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PREVIEW: Harry Potter and the Demonic Fate

It seemed like an hour later when Ron and Hermione finally turned up.

"Oi!" Ron said, "There you are Harry. You won't believe this but Crabbe and Goyle are…" he paused when he spotted Parkinson. Almost immediately his wand was out and pointed at the Slytherin.

"What's she doing here!" Ron shouted.

"What's who doing…..?" Hermione asked, peering over Ron's shoulder. Her eyes widened at the sight of Parkinson.

"She is reading a book." Harry stated simply.

"She's also a lot quieter then you." Ginny grumbled from where she was leaning against Harry. She glared at her brother. "Now either leave, or sit down and shut up."

"What!" Ron shouted, his face turning red.

"Careful Weasley." Parkinson said, not even bothering to look up from her book. "You don't want to wake up the Professor. She can be really crabby when she wakes up."

"I'll talk the way…" Ron began before Hermione put her hand over his mouth and pointed at the snoring lump seated beside Ginny.

"Who is it?" Hermione asked, "Is it Professor Lupin?"

"No." Harry replied, "It's Kirishima." He looked over at Parkinson. "Or so she says."

"It is Kirishima." Parkinson said, looking at Harry. "And I was telling the truth about her being crabby when awakened."

Harry nodded, then turned back to Hermione and Ron. Both were still staring at the Slytherin.

"What about Crabbe and Goyle?" he asked.

Ron glared at Parkinson as he and Hermione sat on the same bench as her, though they kept as much distance from her as they could.

"Well," Ron said, "Those two lunkheads were wondering around the end of this car, mumbling to each other."

"Something about how they were supposed to get someone," Hermione added, "But they couldn't remember who told them or who they were supposed to get."

Ginny, Harry, and even Parkinson laughed.

"Well," Parkinson said, "I suppose it's a miracle they remembered that much."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"They came looking for her." Ginny said, pointing at Parkinson, "But when she asked who had sent them, they couldn't remember."

"So she told them to go for a walk and think about who wanted her and why." Harry finished.

Hermione and Ron both stared at Harry, then at Parkinson. Ron then began to laugh.

"No wonder they looked so lost." Ron said between laughs, "They were trying to think!"

The others soon joined in the laughter. They paused when Kirishima let out a particularly loud snore.

"Is she always that loud?" Ginny asked.

"Not really." Parkinson replied, "She only snores when she's sitting. Unfortunately, she's been falling asleep a lot while sitting. Silencing Charms are a blessing."

"Why are you staying with her if she isn't your Aunt?" Harry asked. Hermione and Ron looked at the Slytherin curiously.

Parkinson closed her book and stared at her lap. Hermione noticed the book.

"You're reading a MUGGLE book!"

"Kirishima loaned it to me." Parkinson replied, "She's been very kind to me, much more then I really deserve." She let out a sigh and looked out the window. "I was a wreck when I found out my parents didn't live. I couldn't get the sight of my home burning out of my head, knowing it my parents were inside." She looked at the sleeping form of Kirishima. "She talked to me. In some ways we're alike." Parkinson looked at Harry. "She's a lot like you too Potter. She told me her mother……"

The door to the compartment opened, revealing Millicent Bulstrude. Behind the hulking girl stood Crabbe and Goyle.

"Pansy." Millicent said with a slight nod.

"Millicent." Parkinson replied, her face frozen in a neutral expression. "What do you want?"

Bulstrude glanced over her shoulder at Crabbe and Goyle.

"I sent these two to fetch you. The rest of the Slytherins are near the front."

"I'm fine here." Parkinson replied. "Now go away."

Bulstrude's face scrunched up in anger.

"You are not fine Pansy! All your friends are in Slytherin! You need to come up front! Now!"

Parkinson glared at Bulstrude.

"I'm staying HERE!" she growled.

"FINE!" Bulstrude snapped. "Stay here with Potty, the Mudblood and the Bloodtraitors!" She leaned forward. "You'll end up just like your parents!"

Parkinson flinched at the comment. Harry noticed this, and decided to come to her aid. He quickly pulled out his wand.

"Get out of here Bulstrude if you know what's good for you." He growled.

Bulstrude stared at Harry.

"And just what are you going to do to make me Potty?"

"In case you haven't noticed," Hermione said, "You and the gorillas are outnumbered."

Bulstrude started to snap back at Hermione, but paused a moment to look around. Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron all had their wands out. In the hall, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood stood there, having been attracted by the shouting. The two also had their wands pulled.

Bulstrude turned back to Parkinson.

"You've made a big mistake Pansy." She said, "One you won't live to correct." She then turned and left, Crabbe and Goyle following right behind her.

Neville and Luna walked up to the compartment door and peered in.

"Everyone alright in here?" Neville asked.

"We're fine." Harry replied.

Neville raised his hand and pointed at Parkinson.

"What about her?" he asked.

Harry turned to see Parkinson with her head in her hands. Ginny, being one of the closest and not as repulsed by the Slytherin as her brother, reached out and put her hand on Parkinson's shoulder.

"Pansy?" she asked softly.

"I'm fine." Parkinson replied, sitting up and wiping her eyes. "But Millicent is up to something."

"She was really determined to get you out of here." Ginny said softly.

"She was a friend." Parkinson admitted, finally looking at the others "But after what she said about my parents……" She paused.

Harry started to wonder why when he followed her line of sight. Luna seemed to be staring very intensely at the Slytherin.

"What?" Parkinson asked.

"Oh," Luna replied, her voice very faraway, "I'm sorry. The Horned Snorcack hiding over your shoulder was distracting me. Did you know it has black wings?"

Parkinson blinked and looked over her shoulder. She then turned back and stared at Luna even more confused then before. The others in the room began to chuckle at the Slytherin's confusion.

"But then Snorcacks don't like Hellions do they?" Luna said with a sigh, "Maybe that's why it's hiding."

Parkinson's eyes went wide and she looked to Harry and Ginny for help.

"Luna." Ginny said, "Don't worry. We'll watch out for the Snorcack."

"Oh I'm not worried about the Snorcack." Luna said, "I'm more worried about the Hellion."

Before anyone could respond, the brakes of the train slammed on full. With a loud crash, students, luggage, and other items were flung forward. Neville and Luna vanished as they flew forward up the hallway. Ginny and Harry suddenly found Hermione and Ron on their laps, while Parkinson slammed into Kirishima.

"OW!" Kirishima shouted, "Bloody Hell!" Her head popped out from under the cloak. Unlike the previous times, her hair was pulled back in tight ponytail, thus revealing all of Kirishima's facial features.

Including the fact she wore an eye patch over her right eye.

"What going on!" Kirishima shouted angrily.

Her response was all the lights on the train to go out.

"Someone forget to pay the bill?" Kirishima's voice came through the darkness.

"Funny." Parkinson replied, "You know you said 'Bloody Hell'?"

"I did? Oh man…..I'm talking like Celes."

"Hermione? Could you get your foot out of my face?"

"Sorry Harry."

"What the hell is poking me?"

"That's my knee, quit grabbing it."

"Hey!" SMACK! "Watch your hands!"

"That wasn't me!"

"QUIET!" Kirishima shouted.

Everyone went silent.

"Good.. Now if everyone can quietly separate themselves……"

"Umm.,… Mana?" Parkinson said softly.

"What?" Kirishima replied.

"There's something moving outside."

Harry heard a rustling noise and assumed Kirishima was looking out the window. This was confirmed a moment later when he heard the window open. A very cool breeze drifted into the compartment.

Much cooler then it should this time of year.

"Oh hell." He heard Kirishima muttered. A second later he felt someone leap over him and into the hallway.

"Everyone stay here." Kirishima stated in no uncertain terms. "Do not leave this compartment until it reaches Hogsmeade."

"But….." Parkinson began to protest.

"No buts." The door slammed shut. It opened a moment later and two bodies were pushed in, then it slammed shut again.

"Umm… hello?" came Neville's voice.

"We're here Neville." Hermione replied.

While the others began to talk softly amongst themselves, Harry moved over Ginny to the still open window. Parkinson was there, looking out into the darkness.

"What did you see?" he asked, looking out the window. His breathe fogged in the cold air.

"I don't know." Parkinson replied, "It really didn't have a definitive shape."

Harry leaned further out the window and looked around. He could just make out the outline of the train and the surrounding countryside.

Then he saw the shadows.

There were at least a dozen of them, all moving to surround a figure walking away from the train. At first he thought it was Death Eaters from the dark robes, but then he saw how the figures floated above the ground.

"It's Dementors." Harry whispered. He glanced at Parkinson. She was looking at him with wide eyes.

"And they've surrounded Kirishima." He finished.


End file.
